Ernalda

Ernalda is the mother goddess and Earth Queen worshiped by the Rams, wife and advisor to Orlanth. Her mother is Asrelia and she herself is the mother of Uralda, Voriof, and Aldrya, the sister of Maran Gor and Esrola, the niece of Ty Kora Tek, and kinswoman to Babeester the Axe. She has a great deal in common with the Rider Earth goddess Nyalda.

Ride Like the Wind[]

Ernalda first appears in Ride Like the Wind. She is usually only mentioned when dealing with Rams, typically to compare and contrast with Nyalda. However, in the end of the game, you have a chance to see and visit her yourself.

Lore[]

Your clan circle has little to say about others' gods, but they mention Ernalda occasionally:

"Rams worship some other earth goddess, who they say they stole from the sky gods."
"Earthquakes never happened until the Ram showed up, bringing with him his tempestuous wife Ernalda."
"I have heard that their god Orlanth is told what to do by his wife. Ridiculous!"
"Ernalda and Nyalda are not so different as we like to think."

Myths & Rituals[]

Although Ernalda appears in none of the Riders' myths, she does figure in two rituals:

And although your clan cannot participate, your Ram neighbors may perform a ritual called "The Wooing of Ernalda".

Lights Going Out[]

Since your clan has become Orlanthi since the end of the first game, Ernalda has become a much more important figure in Lights Going Out. She is now your primary earth goddess, having been mostly syncretized with your old earth goddess, Nyalda. The two are now identified either as sisters or as different names for the same deity.

During the Lights Going Out prolog, Ernalda dies and stops responding to sacrifices. As your clan will later learn, she was slain by the Chaos god of undeath, Nontraya.

Worship[]

It is possible to have a shrine, temple, or great temple to Ernalda. If you picked Ernalda/Nyalda as your favored Golden Age god during clan creation, then you will start Lights Going Out with a great temple to Ernalda. Otherwise, it is a regular temple. In either case, when Ernalda dies during the game's prolog, you have to decide whether to maintain your temple to dead Erndalda or not. If you do, it will not give access to any of her blessings, but may help you in certain events.

Her blessings, had she been alive, would be:

Bless Children: Increases the fertility of our women
Cooperation: Enhances venture effects
Crafting: Helps basketmakers, potters, and weavers produce more
Hospitality: Eases dealing with guests and allows more feasts

She shares the Cooperation, Crafting, and Hospitality blessings with Nyalda from Ride Like the Wind, but the Bless Children blessing is one of her blessings from King of Dragon Pass.

The treasure Braid of Ernalda increases Fields magic if an Ernalda devotee is on the ring during Sacred Time. Other treasures related to the goddess include Ernalda's Comb, Ernalda's Needle, Ernalda's Seeds and, presumably, the Bridal Mirror.

A random event may have vestigial magic from Ernalda's temple improve the clan's fields, leading to the announcing noble remarking that she must be sleeping and not dead for such an event to occur.

On the Ring[]

A worshiper of Ernalda on the clan ring allows you to put more magic into Fields during Sacred Time. She is the only god in Lights Going Out that provides this benefit.

All members of Ernalda's cult are female. In noble selection screens and on the clan ring, her worshipers' portraits are marked with the Earth Rune.

Lore[]

Though dying at some point in the game's prologue, your clan ring in Lights Going Out has the following to say of Ernalda:

"The lord of the talokans is the Chaos god Nontraya, the wolf-riding beast who slew Ernalda."
"Nontraya slew Ernalda and has earned my hate."
"Ernalda is the earth—she must be alive somewhere, in some sense."
"When Beren married Redalda, Orlanth and Ernalda joined Elmal as our main deities."
"Through Redalda, [Beren] joined Ernalda's many grooms."
"When we were still Riders, we used to worship Ernalda under the title Nyalda."
"When Ernalda died, the plant folk, who depended on earth to live, withered where they stood."
"Grain goddesses such as Pela Barley, Usara Oat, and Fresala Wheat became ghosts when Ernalda died."
"Inilla, once a humble handmaiden to Ernalda, survives her mistress."
"Ernalda can no longer command the earth to soak up rain."
"Another of Ernalda's bloodline vanishes from this earth."
"When Ernalda died, Elmal found seeds she left behind. 'Put these in all her temples,' he said."
"Thunder lizards serve Maran Gor the Earth Shaker, sister to Ernalda."
"Ernalda is grandmother to the elves."

Myths & Rituals[]

Since her death, Ernalda can not be contacted through normal rituals. However, over the course of the game, it is possible to perform a special ritual in which you visit her and Orlanth's wedding, see Orlanth and Ernalda.

Her rescue by the storm gods from Yelm's sky court is a big part of the myth Ages of Glorantha.

She is also briefly mentioned in the myth Unholy Trio.