I thought I'd cross-post something that I put on the World of Glorantha digest, since it directly pertains to Second Age Glorantha:
As we know, all western languages share the same written system - called simply "Western". The Brithini claim that their spoken tongue is derived from this written language and this was the writing system employed by Zzabur. This is the language of sorcery. Most Malkioni (and Brithini) believe that Western is derived from the actual language of creation - or actually is the language of creation (as demonstrated by the "Abiding Book").
As Umburudu the Whisperer (an influential God Learner of the 9th century and founder of the Sight of the Great Mind movement) wrote:
"Since the Invisible God created the world by combining written Runes (or graphemes) it must follow that these Runes were not representations of preexisting things, but the very things by which the elements of the universe are molded."
While wandering around the Pergamonmuseum, Lawrence Whitaker and I had a realization that the art of writing Western is a key component of
Malkioni art. Phrases from the Abiding Book in beautiful and elaborate calligraphy decorate not only books, but walls, ceilings, weapons, coins, sculptures and everything else. These "decorations" are often more than mere art - they reinforce the essential nature of what is being decorated. A fortress tower may have inscriptions taken from the Abiding Book proclaiming "Hold fast and steady through your faith in the Creator" and a meeting room might have elaborate designs that read "Be peaceable and agreeable; do not quarrel brethren of the Prophet".
For non-Malkioni, this can be extremely disturbing: sorcerous enscriptions are everywhere and on everything!
However, keep in mind that Western script does not look like Arabic or indeed any other Real World Script. It is derived from the 30 Core Runes (thus there are either 30 or 25 Western graphemes and 5 diacritics), the New Script is easier to write and more stylized. However, the script makes it very easy to view any Western writing as a sorcerous spell and to have a more mystical interpretation of the writing as well.
Jeff
As we know, all western languages share the same written system - called simply "Western". The Brithini claim that their spoken tongue is derived from this written language and this was the writing system employed by Zzabur. This is the language of sorcery. Most Malkioni (and Brithini) believe that Western is derived from the actual language of creation - or actually is the language of creation (as demonstrated by the "Abiding Book").
As Umburudu the Whisperer (an influential God Learner of the 9th century and founder of the Sight of the Great Mind movement) wrote:
"Since the Invisible God created the world by combining written Runes (or graphemes) it must follow that these Runes were not representations of preexisting things, but the very things by which the elements of the universe are molded."
While wandering around the Pergamonmuseum, Lawrence Whitaker and I had a realization that the art of writing Western is a key component of
Malkioni art. Phrases from the Abiding Book in beautiful and elaborate calligraphy decorate not only books, but walls, ceilings, weapons, coins, sculptures and everything else. These "decorations" are often more than mere art - they reinforce the essential nature of what is being decorated. A fortress tower may have inscriptions taken from the Abiding Book proclaiming "Hold fast and steady through your faith in the Creator" and a meeting room might have elaborate designs that read "Be peaceable and agreeable; do not quarrel brethren of the Prophet".
For non-Malkioni, this can be extremely disturbing: sorcerous enscriptions are everywhere and on everything!
However, keep in mind that Western script does not look like Arabic or indeed any other Real World Script. It is derived from the 30 Core Runes (thus there are either 30 or 25 Western graphemes and 5 diacritics), the New Script is easier to write and more stylized. However, the script makes it very easy to view any Western writing as a sorcerous spell and to have a more mystical interpretation of the writing as well.
Jeff
