The Pamalting or Doraddi pantheon offer us a different perspective of Glorantha’s mythology. Pamaltela was not as badly damaged by the Gods War and Greater Darkness as Genertela, and the Earth King Pamalt was never supplanted by Yelm or Orlanth (let alone destroyed by Chaos). The God Learners intensely studied these deities as an opportunity to understand the early Earth religion.
The God Learners proved numerous equivalencies between Pamaltelan and Genertelan deities. Here are some of the most important:
Pamaltelan Deity/Genertelan Deity
- Pamalt = Genert
- Aleshmara = Asrelia
- Faranar = Ernalda
- Balambasta = Lodril
- Noruma = Horned Man
- Varama = Ehilm
- Veldara = Annilla
- Cronisper = Aether
- Yanmorla = Gata
The God Learners further speculated that the Pamaltelan goddess Keraun was equivalent to Molanni, and Nyanka to Seolinthur, but were unable to prove this true or false before the fall of the Lord of the World’s Knowledge put an end to such explorations. Sikkanos was thought to be a Vadruding, a hot and dusty equivalent of Valind in the north.
Other gods had no specific Genertelan equivalency. Rasout was dismissed as a “god of Men and Hunting,” and Vangono as an “uncategorized War God” and thought to be a localized entity analogous to Tada.
The God Learners identified Varama with Ehilm, rather than the Orlanthi-Dara Happan Yelm. Ehilm is an impersonal and abstract god with few initiates – the Sun Disk. Similarly, Varama is the returned Sun, shackled to his daily journey through the Sky and the Underworld.
Now something that some people don’t seem to get is that the God Learners were perfectly fine with there being localized entities. Some scholars had whole categories of local entities that anomalies could be dumped into! What they were concerned about was the overall mythical structure.
The God Learners identified Orlanth’s presence in Pamaltela, but found it was largely centered on Umathela, in the northwest. That area has a more temperate climate, and even snow.
Sikkanos is the God of the Bad Wind, who blows off the Nargan Desert, carrying hot, stinging dust (and never rain). As I said above, the God Learners believed he was a Vadruding, analogous to Valind.
Keraun is the Goddess of Rain and Wind. She brings the monsoon rains across the plains, coming from the east and blowing to the west.
Bolongo is the source of Death. The first thing that he did when Pamalt awakened him was to pick up a knife and kill the Creator. The Creator went to the Spirit World, and everything has been divided between the material world and the spirit world ever since.
The God Learners of course identified Bolongo with Eurmal.
Sandy Petersen, said that the flow of time was “backwards” on Pamaltela, compared to Genertela. Could it be said that the Artmali Empire, at the beginning of Pamaltela’s history, is the equivalent of the Lunar Empire, which arrives at the “end” of Genertela’s history? I don’t find that particularly true. The Doraddi (which is what we are talking about here) “seem” timeless and unchanging, but that’s only because we aren’t really looking carefully at them. The Six-Legged Empire, the Kresh, Hon Hoolbiktu – all made major changes that do not have “reverse Genertela” analogies.