Re: the fyrd

From: bethexton_at_...
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 15:41:31 -0000

>
>
> Peter Larsen wrote:
> > I may be totally wrong here, but I think the fyrd is not so
much
> > a group
> > of fighters but a situation. When most of the fighting adults are
> > gatherered in the traditional manner to defend the tula under the
> > umbrella
> > of the fyrd wyter, they are the fyrd. You could take many of those
> > same
> > people and muster them under the war banner of the clan (with its
owm
> > wyter) and fight a very similar battle not defending the tula, and
> > they
> > would not "technically" be the fyrd.
>
> A good point -- one that had not occured to me. That means they
would be
> the clan 'warband'

I don't know why, but this is exactly how I assumed it worked. Except that I didn't think that the fyrd had a seperate wyter of its own, I thought it was protected by some combination of the warband wyter and the clan wyter.
>
> Of course, for drama and pathos, we did a flashback to the defence
of
> Boldhome. The Cyrling Clan fyrd marched off to war, leaving behind
the
> old, the fearful and the young. Wifes, mothers, grandfathers and
> children watched their kin march away to war.
>
> Few returned. Not a dry eye in the house.

I'm extrapolating wildly here, but I think that for the *fyrd* to leave the clan tula you'd at least weaken your wyter. With essentially every able bodied person gone I think the wyter would be greatly weakened. See, I assume that in your creation of the wyter you undertake certain ritual obligations that you really couldn't keep with the true entire fyrd gone. Just my speculation, but this would be an additional reason why the whole fyrd would almost never leave at once. An alternative could be that this is the only time you take your wyter off the tula--leaving those behind truly defenceless, but assuming that if nobody survives to bring the wyter home the clan is dead anyways.

Of course, Heortlings are flexible with their wording. If they weren't you could basically never get a "fyrd battle" that is recognised as one of the standard stages of battle! So I wouldn't worry too much about fyrd versus warband semantics. (can you believe it? For once I'm *not* worried about semantics!)

--Bryan