> Yes, and that was quasi-deliberate. By my second view, the carls and
> thanes form an upper, 'propertied' class that mostly looks out for
> its own. Oh, sure, they want to keep the cottars alive and healthy,
> and exceptional members there may own their own plough team some day,
> but really they need them to be cottars, their lifestyle depends on a
> good number of people not having their own land to plough and teams
> to do it.
>
I think there's a lot of truth in this view of Heortling culture. While reading Thunder Rebels, I got the very strong impression that all the cultural description applied only to carls and thanes, and not to the lower classes. I think there's quite a stong class divide between cottars and carls, and the cottars' horizons are far smaller than the carls'.
Neil.
Neil Smith Milton Keynes Roleplaying Club neil_at_... http://www.mkrpg.org.ukhttp://home.freeuk.net/wimp/ Honorary Life Member www.SADWargamers.com
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