The Sylvan Clans of Tir Na Nog

The Sylvan clans

By Kennek Pelowhit

Dean of Cultural Anthropology, University City, Republic of Cascadia

Who and what exactly are the ‘Sylvan’? Well this is a complex question that I have devoted some significant study to over the past few years.  Well first some simple definitions – a Sylvan or a Clan of Sylvani are a group of people who have reverted to a ‘hunter gatherer’ lifestyle. Although this is not entirely accurate, as it is more of a hunter, cultivator lifestyle. To elaborate, they cultivate the Living Forest as opposed to utilize traditional intensive agriculture as in the civilized lands. Sylvan’s generally leverage the naturally occurring edibles and encourage and cultivate said edibles within the area they control. They then supplement with fish, deer, foul and raptor as necessary. So that is the first point of commonality – they hunt for protein, engage in some domesticated herding and cultivate the natural forest edibles.

The next common point is they revere what they call the Living Forest. There is no true agreement on what ‘Living Forest’ truly means, but it is agreed that certain gifted humans can enter the forest and ‘bond’ with the forest itself becoming shape shifters, Dryads, Nyads and other mystical beings tightly bonded to the Earth. In short, Gaianism is the worship of the Living Forest as embodiment of Earth and the literal bonding with the Forest (This is contrasted with Wiccanism which is the worship of Higher Powers who generally are associated with Natural Forces, but don’t embody them directly, and Animism with is the worship of Animal Spirits which inhabit the Earth who acts as guides for the supplicant. There are similarities between the three faiths, but their foci diverge).

Form here things can diverge. Four distinct cultural groups have been observed the Gaels (or Celts), The Norse (or Nord), The Saxons and the Sindarin. The first three are fairly self-explanatory and I’ll list the member of each in the appendices the odd one out are the Sindarin. As far as I can tell there are linguistically unique among the Clans. Whereas the other three languages have a clear lineage to English, the Sindarin are linguistically unique.  The Sindarin culture seems to be localized around a place that is referred to as New Lothlorien which translates to Silver Falls, in the Oregon territories.

The other unique exception is the Holy place known as the Valley of the Gods.  I was not able to visit that place, but from what I understand shamans from each clan are sent there to guard the Eldest Trees. The individuals would not elaborate other than to say that travel to that place is punishable by death to outsiders.

Appendix A:  List of known Clans

The Gaels : Wahkiakum, Necanicum, Ts'yl-os, Chilliwack, Quinault Lake, Hama Hama, Black River

The Norse: Roguesmen, Klamath, Wickiup, Hood, Ross Lake, Hoh River, Tillamook, Nestucca River, Logsden

The Saxon: Rainier, Snoqualmie, Boulder River, Clendinning, Siuslaw, , Wind River Clan, Lewis River

The Sindarin: Lothlorien, (Silver Falls, OR)