> Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 12:36:56 +0100
> From: Simon Hibbs <simonh_at_msi-uk.com>
> Subject: Healing Humakti
>
> bjm10 says re. the severing of kin:
>
> >> It's not a "limitation", it's a "power".
> >
> >Yes, I'm sure that's what they told you, my good fellow. The isolated
> >often begin to tell themselves that it's somehow "better" than
> >connection. I can see your pain, my brother, we can help you heal it.
>
> This is assuming the family _wants_ to be associated with someone who's
> avowed profession is kill-kill-kill-kill-kill. Weregeld is damn
> expensive you know, and clans are liable to pay for the crimes of their
> kin.
In Anglo-Saxon England, a noble warrior had two ties: lord and kin.
The tie to his lord was stronger than that two his kin. Accepting the
equation Humakti = housecarl = noble warrior, perhaps the severing a Humakti
performs is part of his oath of loyalty to his lord. The lord then becomes
responsible for weregelds, rather than the family.
- --
Benedict Adamson, Project Engineer, Computational Dynamics Limited.
PHONE: +44 (0)181 969 9639 FAX: +44 (0)181 968 8606
POST: Olympic House, 317 Latimer Road, London W10 6RA, ENGLAND.