I'm probably way off with this, but today I learned the name of an aboriginal sacred coffin, the Lorrkkon. http://collection.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/results.do;jsessionid=7652FC1AFE9663F42AD5B1C0EC021F8A?view=detail&dept=aboriginal%2F3d&db=object&browse=aboriginal%2F3d%2Fbrowse&id=36273

Not sure if MK had ever read of this when coming up with the name of Lorkhan (who can also be said to be "hollow" in having his heart removed, but that's a stretch). It got me thinking of the concept of the Dreamtime, when the ancestors of mortals and the animals were protean. For example, this quote reminds me of Nirn:

" Aboriginals believe in two forms of time; two parallel streams of activity. One is the daily objective activity, the other is an infinite spiritual cycle called the "Dreaming", more real than reality itself. Whatever happens in the dreamtime establishes the values, symbols, and laws of Aboriginal society. It was believed that some people of unusual spiritual powers had contact with the dreamtime."

And this quote: "One of the beliefs was that before animals and humans and plants were created, there were souls and they knew that they would become physical,but not know when. They then knew the time was right and they all one by one all said "we will do our very best to try to help the one that takes care of us all." Then they all became animals and the plants. Then the last soul became the human."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtime

Anyway, I wonder if MK was influenced by aboriginal beliefs. Seems possible when we know he's interested in various world mythologies.

I don't know about the name, but you're spot-on.

Albides linked this a while ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade

Thanks. Yes, I first heard of Eliade's ideas in Albides' posts. Interesting, and key to understanding the TES mythology.

I like the quote above from the wikipedia entry on the Dreamtime: "more real than reality itself". That's another definition of what it's like for the characters who realize their CHIM.

Ty Syronj - I based some of the scansion and concepts for Dance-along - the Ja-Kha'Jay in According to Nature on Aboriginal Timesense - I thought I was being exceptionally perceptive and deep and kept that to myself - and now I discover that I was just repeating the cycle =P