Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

The Sky Gods

Posted on December 27, 2023

The Sky is orderly, regular, and far removed from mortal ephemeralism. The Sun, planets, and stars move in regular patterns through the sky. Clusters of stars form constellations, associated with gods, monsters, and other powers – as the Sun and the planets move through these constellations, heavenly mythology plays out in the sky.

We look to the Sky and see the pure divine realm above. Here is the realm of Light – of Dayzatar. Now Dayzatar gets little attention from the Orlanthi, but he is incredibly important in Solar mythology. He’s completely unpolluted – the most sacred of the gods. By our own purity we can achieve the Light within us, a far more rewarding goal than mundane prowess or power.

And so it is with the stars – points of Light in the sky, ruled by Arraz, Ourania, and Polaris. Arraz has no cult among mortals – he is king of the people who live in the heavens – although we call upon him when priests call upon the Luxites for aid. Ourania and Polaris are far more responsive to mortals – Ourania is the mistress of heavenly power and Polaris is the General of Heaven.

The Sun is the greatest of the celestial powers, although he is too powerful for most mortals to directly reach. The Sun is a source of Life, but also a god of Death for he must descend at the end of each day to spend the night in the Underworld. His most powerful son, Lightfore or Yelmalio, is his nighttime counterpart, providing light in the darkness.

The Sky Gods are the highest of powers and most removed from the world. Unchanging and austere, they are a far cry from the tumultuous Air Gods or the terrestrial Earth Goddesses. This is part of their appeal – they reveal a heavenly perfection beyond mortal experience.

From Mythology, page 124 – Artist, Katrin Dirim

I don’t see Yelmalio on the tree? Yelmalio came into being when Yelm was killed and is that Light which cannot be extinguished. There’s a separate picture of those in either the Mythology or Prosopaedia book. (See Yelm Disintegrates WiP)

Is Lokarnos a son of Lodril? It says Elevated?

Katrin Dirim says

Lokarnos was a mortal who became a god and was ‘adopted’ by Lodril into the pantheon.

What’s the main difference between Shargash, Polaris and Yelmalio as war gods. Yelmalio’s cult is larger than either.


Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
Aether, Alkor, Annilla, Arraz, Artmal, Asrelia, Caladra & Aurelion, Dayzatar, Dendara, Ernalda, Everina, Genealogies, Hippoi, Katrin Dirim (artist), King Griffin, Lhankor Mhy, Lightfore, Lodril, Lokarnos, Lowfires, Luxites, Maran Gor, Mikyh, Murharzarm (emperor), Oria, Oslira, Ourania, Polaris, Shargash, Styx, Ten sons and workers, Voria, Yelm, Yelmalio, Yelorna

Sections

  • Search Tips
  • Current RuneQuest Glorantha Publications
  • RuneQuest Glorantha Corrections and Q&A
  • Catalogue
  • References for Glorantha
    • Gloranthan Canon
  • Gloranthan Documents
  • RPG Systems & Versions
  • Gallery
  • About This Site
  • Get involved!

Latest Posts

  • The Grasslands of Prax

    Something to keep in mind about Prax. The grasslands of …
  • Praxian Kinship Groups

    Praxian tribes are divided into smaller kinship groups or clans, …
  • Lunar Resettlement of Tarsh after 1460 ST

    After 1460, large sections of Peloria (especially east of the …
  • The Spread of the Lunar Way

    In the Lunar Provinces, about 26% of the total population …
  • Gods of Fire and Sky and the Lunar Way

    The Gods of Fire and Sky co-exist alongside the Lunar …
  • How Much Land is a Hide?

    So in RQ, a “hide” is a unit of accounting …
  • Agricultural Data for RuneQuest

    Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Greg‘s only …
  • Farming in Dara Happa

    In anticipation of the Fire/Sky Book, here’s a few notes …
  • Farming in the Big Rubble

    There are some 1600 humans in the Big Rubble, with …

Links

  • Chaosium
  • Chaosium’s RuneQuest RPG Wiki
  • Glorantha on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on Discord
  • Prince of Sartar Webcomic
  • Glorantha G+ Archives on Tapatalk
  • Search mailing list archive

Latest from BRP Central

  • Where is there a list of temples in Dragon Pass?
  • New on the Jonstown Compendium: Many Suns
  • control entity spirit spell question
  • spell matrix cost
  • Treasure and Rewards
  • Subcults vs Associated Cults
  • Gorgorma and Dendara's Chess Game
  • Merged deities
  • Elf plant ships and dwarf stone ships
  • Do Dwarves have souls?

Popular Tags

Boldhome (large city) Chaosium Colymar (Sartar tribe) Contents Cult demographics Cults of Runequest (preview) Ernalda Esrolia (homeland) FRA Furthest (large city) G+ post Gods Wall Greg Stafford Guide to Glorantha (preview) Humakt Jar-eel Lunar Empire Lunar Pantheon Magazine Malkioni pantheon Map Michael O’Brien Mongoose MRQ1 New Pavis (small city) Old Glorantha Q&A Orlanth Orlanthi pantheon Photo reference Population demographics Prax (homeland) RQ3 RQG Sandy Petersen Sartar (homeland) Spirit Cult Star Subcult Tapatalk post Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • Spirit Magic by Cult and Associate Cult

  • ISS1102 Glorantha: Introduction to the Hero Wars (2000)

  • Dragon Pass – A brief outline (2013)

  • Some Fronelan Population And Cultural Details

  • Notes on Fronela III

  • Notes on Fronela II

  • Notes on Fronela I

  • Hon-eel Temples and Shrine

  • Seven Mothers Temples and Shrines

  • Ernalda Temples and Shrines

  • Barntar Temples and Shrines

  • Babeester Gor Temple and Shrines

  • Voria Shrines

  • Ty Kora Tek Temples and Shrines

  • Asrelia Temples and Shrines

  • Maran Gor Temple, Shrines and Site

  • Odayla Shrines

  • Humakt Temples, Shrines and Sites

  • Orlanth Rex Temples, Shrines and Sites

  • Hippoi Shrines

©2025 The Well of Daliath | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme