>:I would assume smiths to be members of
>:the farmer class (although I concede blacksmiths might be a different
>:matter) and thus unlikely to be using grimoires - although they have
>:access to books of blessings, obviously.
>I don't think a smith is just a farmer. Smiths tend to have been regarded
>as magicians in their own right even here on Terra, and smithing in
>Glorantha definitely needs magic, as well as skill.
There's a confusion here. The lowest Malkioni caste literally means "farmer" today, but in the good old days of the Land of Logic (when Man could live by the Word of God alone), the word meant something closer to "citizen" or "commoner". All men not of the other three castes are farmers, whether their day-job is magical or mundane or takes place in the town or country side.
>A smith may be a person that falls between the castes of artisan
>(farmer) warrior and wizard. Afterall, who is going to go and tell that
>ironsmith that he isn't alowed to carry that sword and chainmail he has
>made for himself?
There is no prohibition on Farmer-castes from carrying sword and chain into battle. Most foot-soldiers in Malkioni lands are from the Farmer Caste. Serfs with weapons is a bad thing, but not all Farmer-castes are Serfs.
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