> ... anyone knows that No One Can Make
> You Do Anything. If Tovald and a half dozen of his cousins plus that
> hired sword Humakti they have at their stead decide to interrupt your
> nightly walk home from the pub terminally...
>
> ..then that's your own fault.
Erm, hrrmmmm, not IMO.
Humakt is god of Death, not god of Murder.
OK, if you've actually done something, so the hired Humakti thinks your death will bring him honour, sure : your fault. But in this case, the Humakti won't have broken any actual laws, which is the point of this thread (come to think of it, this is a hireling anyway, so probably not kin in any meaningful legal sense, and his actions would be the responsibility of Tovald and co in virtually all cases).
It's probably not your fault (certainly not in the wergild system) that Tovald and his cousins are murderers.
It's true though, that a Humakti doesn't always bear full responsibility for the people he kills, and, very often, it is indeed the killee's own fault that he's dead.
Perhaps not even "fault" : destiny ?
Did granny really die of a heart attack, or was it because that strange Man in Black came to buy some oats just as she was feeding the chickens (and they all dropped dead, too) ?
Should he pay wergild ? I don't think so ...
Julian Lord
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