I think this is misleading. Sure, there is often a husband-and-wife team leading a bloodline, but not always. Sometimes it is a brother-and-sister team, a mother-son team, or even a pair (or trio) of brothers. There is NOT a bloodline council. Nothing that formal - these are families, not clans.
>The spirit of the founder would be Ginna Jar for the ring, if the
>ring were the Lightbringer type. But why WORSHIP the founder? Recite
>his/her sagas, certainly, but why worship a founder that can do
>nothing for you, unlike Orlanth or Ernalda?
A little secret about Ginna Jar - she's just the Orlanthi symbol for "community" and not necessarily "our local community". Many Orlanthi clans call her Ernalda-Who-Waits, with Ginna Jar being the universal aspect of this.
I agree that most bloodline founders aren't worshipped. Snorri Hairyback is unlikely to worship his uncle Gulbrand Twoploughs just because he founded a large stead and a new bloodline. Even if he did become wealthy enough to own two ploughs.
>Orlanthi society is not literate, nor is its legal system as rigid as
>ours. Consequently, the definition of bloodline membership is not as
>rigid and legalistic as you might expect. If collaterals want to
>'leave' the bloodline (that is, form a new one), that can. Leaving
>with some possessions is usally harder: violence is always an option.
Orlanthi society is often quasi-literate, with the Lhankhor Mhy lawspeakers keeping written records of geneologies and law claims. Its legal system is very sophiscated and very complex- the Orlanthi have at least three law gods (Orlanth, Lhankhor Mhy and Heort)! Don't underestimate the legalistic tendencies of the Orlanthi - I suspect that they are the most litigious culture in Genertela. Many of their major sagas are oriented around legal disputes gone hey-wire (Rastalulf's Saga for example). Part of the complexity is that the Orlanthi have a precedent or legal rule justifying almost any action they might wish to take.
>As for joining someone elses bloodline: everyone knows who their
>parents and siblings are, so impossible. A family might claim that
>their bloodline was a long lost branch of a bloodline, and request
>reacceptance. Oratory, lawspeaking, saga knowledge and being valuable
>(powerful, wealthy or respected) all help. See, for example,
>Argrath's reacceptance as a member of the Colymar tribe.
Not really true. A bloodline is a voluntary kinship organization - folk can be adopted in, kicked out, whatever. What you described is how folk are recognized as members of a clan, which is different altogether.
Jeff
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