> >I really don't see what relevance this has to the issue of
> >the Hendreiki being a tribe or not.
>The issue is: there are four Hendriki tribes, the Volsaxar,
>Esvularings etc.
No, there are not four tribes. The Volsaxar is an tribal confederation while the other lands are earldoms.
>Prior to the Pharaoh each of these tribes had a king, and
>the confederation of these four (oversized) tribes had a High
>King.
No. Before the Pharaoh, the Hendreiki were a "clannish folk" that only had a single king "who protected their freedom" p142 Glorantha: Intro.
>Zombie King Andrin renamed the tribal kings into earls.
No, he was the one who transformed the Hendreiki into marches and earldoms. He was imposing a new thing upon the Hendreiki, not transforming an existing hierarchy.
>The Volsaxar took exception more strongly than others.
That their ancestors did. But there wasn't a Volsaxar confederation at the time. At best, there was a turbulent earldom where the Volsaxi now are. In addition there were a three or four tribes in the vicinity that caused trouble. Like the tribes that migrated to Quivin, these tribes were formed in the chaos that followed Andrin's murder. When Andrin came back, they refused to renounce their tribal loyalties and so remain border irritants.
> >The Hendreiki King was not an ordinary King but chosen by the Larnsti.
>
>A high king chosen by a council of priests.
The Larnsti are not priests but a band of wandering holymen. They would not have a council for they abhor static institutions and they would not chose a king for they are not rulers. Instead when the old king moved on, the Larnsti had a contest to see who can turn into a king. The winner got to be king.
> >Before the Pharaoh, the Hendreiki are a "clannish folk" (Glorantha:
> >Intro p132)
>Your description as "clannish folk" doesn't tell me much about
>actual organisation, but a lot about strong decentralist sentiments.
It strongly implies (or at least was meant to, dammit!) that the Hendreiki did not have any organization above the clan other than the King. That way there would be very little difference between the clans that migrated to Quivini and the clans that remained behind.
>There is nothing at all to prevent these clannish people to form four
>separate tribes as we are told in all publications about the place.
What publications mention the tribes _before_ the Pharaoh came? KoS only mentions the Orshanti clan of the Hendreiki tribe and does so twice for Colymar and Sartar. The Volsaxi tribe were formed after this period as Barbarian Adventures shows.
> >and so the best label for the Hendreiki as a whole is "tribe".
>So the Esvularings and Jondalarings are what, sub-tribes?
As I said before, earldoms. The only text that mentions them as tribes is Thunder Rebels which is using Heortling terminology.
>The Volsaxar turn out to be a tribal confederation similar to
>Sartar's pre-1495 Quivini, with three Quivini-sized tribes
>(BA called them tiny) and a fairly large tribe called the Volsaxi.
The population of the Volsaxar is unknown. I strongly doubt that its total population is anything like one hundred thousand. Half that would be a much fairer estimate given the wildness of the territory.
BA only said the Bacofi were tiny (because the Volsaxi had recently been nicking their lands), it did not say the Curtali or the Sylangi were tiny.
>Andrin was the High King of Heortland
Andrin was nothing of this sort. He was originally a sacred king with as little political power as the Greatest Khan of Waha at the Paps does. He became something much closer to what you and I would consider a Heortling King.
>as well as non-Heortling peoples of Heortland (Pelaskites, Aeolians).
Why would he need to rule over these people? As protector of the freedoms of the Hendreiki, his mere existence is sufficient to keep these people at bay.
> >I don't see what the problem is. Beneath the King of Heortland,
> >there are three earls, not tribal kings and a number of barons.
>Tell that the mountain valley hicks of the Stormwalk Mountains or the
>Volsaxi.
The mountain valley hicks are under the authority of the earls and barons whether they like it or not. The Volsaxi are not beneath the King of Heortland in anyone's books.
> >[The Hendreiki] know themselves to be a) a kingdom and b) a tribe.
>Decide.
I don't have to. Neither do the Hendreiki. A similar situation might be the British Empire which was also the United Kingdom.
>There is the Kingdom of Heortland which includes Aeolians and Pelaskites
>as sizeable non-Heortling and even more non-Hendriki minorities, just
>like the Principality of Sartar includes Telmori and Durulz.
That's the political organization of the Hendreiki Tribe. IMO when a Heortlander speaks about the Kingdom, he is thinking about the Government. When he speaks about the Tribe, he is thinking about the People.
--Peter Metcalfe
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