Character Development: Lalli

[starfallz]

All I can say is that I look forward to the next chapter. Yessss.....

[misea]

All I can say is that I look forward to the next chapter. Yessss.....

*squawks* YES I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS INCREDIBLY INSCRUTABLE CHARACTER

[Róisín]

So far I find Lalli the most interesting character. I suspect we have only seen the edges of a complex and fascinating being. The character has depth, I think. He seems to be nervous and easily scared (I suppose a scout who wasn't like that wouldn't last a day), yet he does a job that entails going into danger on his own every night. He lacks education yet seems to be scarily bright. He's obviously devout (otherwise his style of magic wouldn't work) but acts like a bit of a fatalist. And he seems lonely, yet avoids contact. A puzzle.

[Vafhudr]

Well. For lack of a better place to discuss developments as they unfold - I have something for consideration:

Is Lalli making a kantele or a ritual in the latest update? Not that these two things are mutually exclusive.

[Korppi]

I also thought he might be making a kantele. It wouldn't be the first time one has been made of a jawbone, as in Kalevala, Väinämöinen himself made his kantele out of the jaws of a giant pike.

[snotra]

Wait, what is a kantele? A ritualised slaughter of a dead animal to invoke some sort of magic?

[Laufey]

Wait, what is a kantele? A ritualised slaughter of a dead animal to invoke some sort of magic?

Kantele as such is just a traditional Finnish music instrument, but the one people are referring to is Väinämöinen's kantele; he made his out of a jawbone of a huge pike and it had magical abilities (playing it Väinämöinen could cause earth quakes, volcanic eruptions etc.). Väinämöinen had magical abilities himself as well though, at least I'm thinking that the time when he sang Joukahainen sinking into ground he only used his voice... so my take is that the kantele he made just enhanced them.

[Róisín]

Body parts as magical instruments turns up in many shamanic traditions. In my Western Celtic tradition it's usually a harp or similar musical instrument made from skull or ribs or breastbone, often strung with hair. Though it can also be a bone flute or whistle, or a skin drum. In the New Guinea highlands it can be a drum or a rattle, or again a bone flute. It turns up in a lot of the old ballads, in the Celtic countries.

[Mélusine]

Is Lalli making a kantele or a ritual in the latest update? Not that these two things are mutually exclusive.

For me it was a ritual, buuuuuuut...

[starfallz]

Oooh, I hadn't thought of making a kantele. That would be interesting. I was wondering initially if the soul guiding would be something like the bear hunt traditions, but today's page changed my thoughts about that.

[Korppi]

Oooh, I hadn't thought of making a kantele. That would be interesting. I was wondering initially if the soul guiding would be something like the bear hunt traditions, but today's page changed my thoughts about that.

Yes, I had also expected it to be something akin to karhunpeijaiset.

[Róisín]

Either the bear ceremony or the kantele one are possible, but in the circumstances it may be something quite different, since both of those require an untainted animal. I wonder what adaptations the Rash has forced onto Finnish traditional magic?

[Fauna]

I remember reading about a slightly different version of the bear hunt ritual.

The hunt would take place at winter, when the bear was hibernating. The hunting party would slay the bear, and although they would consume the meat, the skeleton would not be harmed (even though bone marrow are one of the most nutritionally dense foods available in a snowy winter, so this was a great sacrifice). The skeleton would then be cleaned and brought back to the burrow where the bear had hibernated, and then put together again (the vertebrae placed in order on the ground, every bone in its right place, ect.).

This ritual was to make the bear 'come alive' again, so that it could be hunted anew. My guess is that Lalli is doing something similar - cleansing it from the troll stain so that its soul can be healthy again and move on or something.

[Vafhudr]

I am also getting a cleansing vibe from the whole thing. I do believe it is stated that it's the job of mages to guide those corrupted to find their way to the afterlife or something like that.

Though one has to wonder how often they actually take time to sit down and actually complete such a task.

[Sunflower]

Body parts as magical instruments turns up in many shamanic traditions. In my Western Celtic tradition it's usually a harp or similar musical instrument made from skull or ribs or breastbone, often strung with hair.
Though it can also be a bone flute or whistle, or a skin drum. In the New Guinea highlands it can be a drum or a rattle, or again a bone flute. It turns up in a lot of the old ballads, in the Celtic countries.

Ooh, like the song "The Bonny Swans"!  (Version by Loreena McKennitt.)  The girl who is murdered gets turned into a harp by a passing bard (don't inquire too closely into the process ) and the harp announces the murderer's name.