3/8/2023- Knowing When to Die and Noble Deeds

 Consider the Hrossa as the foil to the Elves of Middle-earth. Each Hross lives for nearly identical lengths of time, being resistant to the curse of sickness and other maladies that plague the elderly of mankind. The Hrossa live in harmony with the other denizens of Malacandra, and the only real cause of untimely deaths among their people is the hunt for the elusive hnakra, the Leviathan which plagues the waters of Malacandra. However, the Hrossa do not consider this ferocious monster a plague on their land, like humans might when faced with an infestation of wild animals near our cities, but rather, as a challenge to face, an obstacle to overcome, a demon to slay, and because of these things, a fellow creature in the web of life. Ransom himself becomes a hnarkapunti (essentially Leviathan-slayer) along with the rest of the Hrossa on that hunt. “He was one with them. That difficulty which they, accustomed to than one rational species, had perhaps never felt, was now overcome. They were all hnau [creatures]. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the face of an enemy, and the shapes of their heads no longer mattered.” The Hrossa immortalize the deeds of the great members of their society through songs and stories (rather than being immortal themselves.)


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