The Recitation of the Months
A calendrical verse that names the turning year of Elshore month by month. It binds the seasons to the sacred calendar of Randenism Faith Randenism The Flame Doctrine, dominant faith of the Maan and state religion of the Maan Empire., naming the gods Namii Cosmology The Binary Suns Two stars share the sky of Elshore: Uhiel, the warmer and steadier light, and Namii, the smaller and more ominous companion. and Liir Cosmology The Two Moons Two moons attend Elshore: Liir, the near and swift one, and Ressor, the far and slow one. among the months and walking the year from tempest to dream.
Key traits
- Origin: the folk calendar of Elshore, overlaying the sacred calendar of Randenism.
- Form: a single mnemonic verse that names the months in seasonal order.
- Function: teaches the year to children and marks its turning for all.
- Names the gods Namii and Liir within the cycle of months.
- Performed aloud as a recitation rather than sung.
- Walks the year from the storms of Tempests to the long sleep of Dreams.
The year of Elshore turns through named months, and the simplest way to hold the whole of it in the mind is to recite it. The Recitation of the Months is a single mnemonic verse, taught to children and spoken by elders, that walks the year from its first storms to its final sleep. It folds the gods of Randenism into the calendar itself, naming Namii and Liir among the seasons, so that to count the months is already to keep the faith.
It runs:
"From Tempests' howl and battered sky, Through Thaw, where sleeping rivers cry, Awakening stirs the earth and vein, And Winds run wild across the plain."
"Namii's Gift comes clothed in gold, The Reaping sings of stories told, The Loaves are broken, sweet and round, While Liir's Farewell leaves empty ground."
"In Withering's grasp the branches groan, The Traveller's Vigil walks alone, Till Dreams enfold the slumbering land, And suns and moons fall hand in hand."
So the year passes: from Tempests through Thaw, Awakening, and Winds into the warm months of Namii's Gift, the Reaping, and the Loaves; then down through Liir's Farewell, Withering, and the Traveller's Vigil into Dreams, where the land sleeps and the suns and moons of Elshore fall hand in hand.