Re: Heortling inheritance, Heortling freemen, Alakoring vs Heortling

From: Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 14:37:57 -0000


Peter Metcalfe

> If you mean that anybody can become a chief even
> if he was a stickpicker, then that is true for all Orlanthi

Not true for Tarsh which elects by bloodline (or maybe even for the Kingdom of Sartar) and I don't think it was true for the Vingkotlings. In a similiar thread in the Glorantha digest Jeff Richards wrote:

http://glorantha.kondalski.org/g6index/2693.html

Richard, Jeff

"The Vingkotlings are, or more precisely were, the Storm Age Orlanthi. Vingkot was a son of Orlanth and became the first human king, ruling over the peoples of Dragon Pass and protecting them from the remaining minions of the Evil Emperor, the darkness hordes, etc. He died trying to protect his folk from the ravages of the terrible Chaos Man.

Vingkot established his son Kodig as the next king of the Vingkotlings and his other sons (or sons-in-law) as the kings of their respective tribes. For the Vingkotlings, a king must be of Vingkot's bloodline - otherwise they cannot rule. This rite of kingship came to disasterous end when nearly all of the royal bloodline died fighting each other at the Sword and Helm Battle."

So Jeff seems to think that the Vingkotling candidates must come from a noble bloodline, and this is what I was picking up on as a potential Heortling difference - their rulers are elected, and why I suggested that this was a Heortling innovation.

Jeff again:

"For the Heortlings, a king does not need to belong to any specific bloodline - - instead he is elected (or acclaimed, whatever) by his people. The person best suited for leadership is acknowledged as leader."

Presumably this was a matter of necessity - with the old blood line wiped out Heort had to introduce a new system for electing leaders. Also note that the same conflict caused the Esrolians to split off into matriachal lines.

Also

"These tribes and kingdoms exhibit a variety of kingship rites ranging from Vingkotling bloodline based like Tarsh and the House of Sartar, to Alakoringite like the tribes of Sartar, to Heortling elections like Aggar and Heortland."

Agreed Jeff does seem to take the line that Alakoring's changes were not to move back to a hereditary bloodline, but to reassert the powers of the tribal kings over the priests who had led the tribes down the dragon path. So it look like I am adrift here.

Joerg Baumgartner commented on this thread

"The difference between Heortling, Harmast's Heortling (priestdominated)  and Alakoring's Heortling (king-dominated, small-tribish) election of kings still isn't quite clear."

So this would suggest that alakoring is a qualifier that can be applied to people's of the Dragon pass area regardless of whether they are heortling, Vingkotling or Star tribe. Hamrmas also appears to be the qualifier sugesting priest donmination according to Joerg.

This is what I am trying to clarify. What are the distinctions between these peoples in election of kingship and what are the distinctions elsewhere. What differences in base culture customs would an Orlanthi notice in travelling through Maniria.

Ian  

Powered by hypermail