First, I see that three of the "rainbow" softcover first state Roots of Glorantha books went on eBay today (easy search) so let the competists shudder and the lustful sigh.
Here in the Castle Coast where we drill every day for the war with the blue man that never comes I rarely get even an hour away from the screen so a deep dive through the archaic materials has been elusive. I apologize to those who have been counting on me to assimilate and translate the waking dream history they reflect. It will happen in our lifetime, more or less. But today I got that hour and a few broad notes strike me:
A. The Lifebringers may not have been the only missionary civilization bringing a god from Central Genertela. By circa 100 a religion identifiable as "Yelm" is making inroads among the Pendalites, complete with chariots and archery. Imagine a dawn age where sons of the Sun are racing to spread their gospel ahead of the storm pantheon: the dark is over, make way for the day. Obviously given the dating this is not under the auspices of what becomes the Bright Empire under the god Nysalor, although "Yelm" may in fact come to other lands after the Sunstop.
B. Seeing Damol in action gets me looking for "theyalan" storm people who evolved independently from the Heort / First Council and were only later attached to the god we call Orlanth. Wild brainless Damol is of course a son of "Aerlit" and so at least considered a brother to a historical Malkion who does not appear in these sources. If I were a gambler I'd bet a little money on aspects of Damol emerging in the "Malkion" legend that becomes useful at various times and places.
C. The unassimilated Pendalite remnant devolves in diaspora into the miserable lion people we now know. The historical experience of some if not all other "hsunchen" nations may be similar. Meanwhile Pendal's curse forbidding his children to ride horseback can be rehabilitated as a way around contradictory information about which castes can ride: for converts with Pendalite blood, it's not a good idea. (Greg's hatred of the horse is once again on display here.)
D. Triolini were also interbreeding with our nations in those days, creating hybrid peoples whose provenance is now lost to Time. This is likely where knowledge of the Sea enters land lore. The children of Waertag may or may not have succeeded in suppressing the results to pursue their putative monopoly. "Malkion," for example, is also a child of ocean on his mother's side.
E. Arkat's War undoubtedly altered the mythic landscape of the West as much as it did in Central Genertela. New gods rise and old gods are suppressed. This means that, for example, these archaic materials may either reflect their redaction of history (and so are completely anti-canonical in the Hero Wars era, a fiction promulgated by the losers of history and preserved by eccentric dilettantes) or the history that prevailed before the Autarchy and its own collapse. Given the wealth of detail here I tentatively favor the latter case where it doesn't explicitly contradict objective sources.
F. Before the totemic nations, the Elves. There were also darkness people early on who may or may not have been what we would call trolls.
G. The archaic West became relatively rich with dead mythologies within a short period of time as nations were exterminated and their gods lost, converting their material apparatus into anonymous metal. Third Eye Blue may recall how some of this is done. The presence of Third Eye Blue in some phases of the Apple Lane experiment is interesting.
H. I'm sure I'm at best wrong everywhere but this stuff can only be made meaningful to those who need it. When the war with the blue man comes we need every weapon from history we can find.