> Or is it? Leaving aside the inclusion of women, children and thralls, it
> seems that the term 'legal value' is the killer: Perhaps, as in Heortling
> law, the law codes give starting points for negotiation, and the actual geld
> is decided by circumstances, politics and skill in negotiation. This is
> certainly what Njal's Saga suggests for me.
I agree (besides, negotiations make for a more fun game).
> I understand that the Gragas (the written Icelandic law codes) were composed
> in the early to mid twelth century - roughly midway between the settlement
> and the eventual collapse of the weregild system amidst widespread violence
> tantamount to civil war. Perhaps they were an attempt to set fixed values
> and so quell the already rampant weregeld inflation?
Possibly; Byock speculates that portions of the code may have been "improvements" added by copyists.
> I've argued in the past that Icelandic sagas serve as a poor analog for
> Heortling law, and my prime reason is a simple one: the Icelanders had no
> clans. Clans mean group responsibility for compliance and enforcement, it
> means that the individual sense of honour and outrage (admittedly similar in
> both cultures) is always subordinated to a higher political and social
> reality, and to the possibility of compromise.
They served pretty well in our Taming of Dragon Pass game, because there were no _tribes_. Most of our important legal cases involved other clans, with the obvious enforcement problem.
BTW, Byock writes at great length about the social pressures to compromise. Nobody wanted a reputation as an unreasonable man (though of course the desire for vengeance could be stronger). My guess is that this would be lacking in Heortling society -- individuals don't need to be so reasonable, since the larger structures can provide the mediating influence.
> The Iceland settlement was unique, for most of its independent history being
> free of enemies or external threats that would have prompted the development
> of central authorities like clans or kingdoms. It's difficult for me to
> think of Gloranthan analogues for such a state, so perhaps Orlanthi
> societies having equal weregild evolved in other ways. But which ways?
More than just that: they went out of their way to protect the rights of free farmers and prevent anything like a clan chieftain.
One of the reasons this worked is that individuals could choose their godi (the true sense of the word*, not a synonym for "god-talker" but closer to "big man"). If there are Orlanthi clans where clan membership is more fluid, you might see something closer to Iceland. As usual, I propose if there is such a place, it's Fronela (since I know so little about it).
You might see a bit of it in one of the areas without tribes (e.g. Brolia).
David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/HW/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
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End of Glorantha Digest
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