> The Vingkotlings practiced succession via bloodline (at least for
> kings). I've always figured this is why people were stuck with Bad
> King Urgrain. (And perhaps why Heort changed things.)
I'm not at all sure that Bad King Urgrain is about the bad idea of bloodline royalty. Any chosen leader can turn bad after getting a taste of the power, or can reveal his bad intentions only after having received power.
The Vingkotling royalty system uses blood kin to access the founder's heroic powers for the kingdom. Individual qualification of the descendant can be lower than for an elected king because of that magical boost to their abilities.
Even so, a bloodline's rulership depends on the circumstances. The original line of Vingkot had to face an unparalleled downward spiral, and persisted despite things getting worse and worse until the Sword and Helm Saga, stricken down by the Grandmothers. Sure, with or without Grandmother intercession things would have gone downhill even further.
Other cases of Vingkotling kingship and dynasties show similar activity curves - the best known being the House of Sartar, whose local story includes a lapse into the Greater Darkness aka Fimbulwinter, and then a descendant from a side line picking up pieces to rise again.
This leaves the question whether starting a Vingkotling dynasty provokes the End of the World and a new beginning after a couple of generations...
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