Justice in Heortling society

From: Chris Pearce <chrep_at_cisco.com>
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 16:20:22 -0600


My GM is starting up a Glorantha game.

My character concept, for good for for ill, was that of a young lawspeaker dedicated to an Orlanth subcult (Andrin). We didn't quite catch on to the fact that this was considered a real advanced sort of role until late in the character creation for the group so, rather than start from scratch, we're just going to figure out how to make it work.

I've read what I can find about the practice of law in Heortling society, but I'm still pretty unclear about certain things.

The big one is really the role and process of the lawspeaker. As an "Orlanth" lawspeaker, I expect the emphasis is on understanding the oral traditions and customs of the clan and not on rigorous application of a set of written laws. But what is the clan lawspeaker exactly?

Furthermore, I'm not sure I can quite get my mind around the concept of kinstrife. Wergild applies when one clan injures another, but the implication is that criminal acts WITHIN a clan are so horrific that they're the exception, not the rule. Is this realistic? I would imagine that any time people are relating very closely together that there will be much more opportunities for personal strife leading to violent acts. Husband and wives might deal with each other on a day-to-day basis, or siblings or friends might fancy the same pretty girl from the clan the next tula over, and thus have the opportunity for conflict EVERY day. A raid might happen only once or twice per season, however, and while legal proceedings might be necessary if the raiders are caught, it seems like there's fewer opportunities for a crime to occur.

If clansman-on-clansman violence is potentially more common, then it seems strange that the penalties would be so very harsh. Either the offender is put to death or, in the simplest cases, banished for a minimum of one year. Given that the winters are so deadly, this in itself seems like a death sentence. (Certainly, other clans won't grant refuge to someone labelled an outlaw?!)

I think the only way I can reconcile the difference in penalties is by reasoning that strife WITHIN the clan is punished so harshly because the death of even a single clan member potentially puts the survival of the whole clan at risk (whereas, the system of wergild between clans was established as a way to prevent an inter-clan event from blowing up into a full-blown war).

But for intra-clan issues, does the clan make an effort to avoid outlawing its sons and daughters unnecessarily and, if so, how? Or do such crimes simply not occur? (The presence of laws implies that they do.)


End of Glorantha Digest, Vol 11, Issue 40


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