Partially. There are also elements of Celtic culture as well. The legal system is pretty much a straight copy of Brehon law and the social structure of clans is more Celtic/Viking than the feudal Saxon model which developed out of the social structure of the late Roman empire. So a Heortling doesn't own fealty to anyone, he follows his chosen leader. And if a leader becomes sufficently unpopular their followers will switch to someone else.
[Insert standard warning about not trying to copy RW societies into Glorantha - they may be similar but they aren't the same.]
>"Saxons!" says
>"...Each must own at least five hides (of land); enough land to
>support a full=F6-time warrior. A tegn should have armor, helmet, sword,
>shield and several spears. He may know how to ride a horse, but he
>does his fighting on foot..."
>
>The common class of free men is that of ceorl (carl). Craftsmen and
>farmers, who form the fyrd. In the heortling society this class if
>further divided into the wealthier carls and the poorer cottars.
>Othervice it's quite similar.
>The HeroQuest material get's rather confusing with it's emphasis on
>clan ownership of land,
The tricky bit is the concept of property owned by the clan and bloodlines within the clan. In modern western society we are used to thinking of all property being owned by an individual or by a body which has the rights and duties of an individual (a corporation). We forget that there are two other types of bodies - states and churches. Think of the clan as a state which owns the clan tula. The clan then gives separate bloodlines (modern equivelent family partnerships), not individuals a lease to use that land in return for a share of the produce. The precise terms of the lease are variable but generally include a duty to maintain the land and generate sufficent produce to justify the bloodline keeping the land.
This concept of bloodline and clan ownership extends beyond land. So a cow might be owned by the clan or by a bloodline or more rarely by an individual.
> and the way it doesn't really explain how the
>settlements are situated on a clan's tula.
>
>My suggestion is this:
>
>On a clan's tula, there are several fortified "villages". Each of
>these is the demesne of a thane. The thane keeps several huscarls in
>his hall, and is rides patrols on his/her lands. The thane and his
>huscarls usually have their personal warrior followers picked from
>among the carls. The greatest of these villages is the one ruled by
>the chieftain of the clan. The chieftains hall is the largest, and
>houses many huscarls and other companions.
> The villages are defended with various levels of defensive works
>like palisades and picket fences, and the longhouses are arranged to
>provide more defense. The chieftains village is usually the most
>heavily defended, and usually houses the most important temples and
>shrines, as well as the central market. In addition to the villages,
>the demesnes of the thanes have many outlying farms and settlements.
>
>The thanes tend to be the heads of bloodlines, and their villages are
>usually populated by their immediate kin.
This is going to depend very much on the clan and land they own. Only a clan under regular threat from serious attack is going to fortify every village and in many parts of Sartar the land won't support most of the population in villages. The basic unit is the stead which is between one and six buildings clustered together. Possibly laid out in a defensive manner but otherwise unfortified. Steads usually have more than one bloodline just as a bloodline is usually spread over several steads.
> ***
>
>In addition to thanes, chiefs and kings, the Glorantha source material
>makes references to "nobles". I guess one could use the term jarl, to
>go with cottar, carl and thane. The problem here is that I haven't
>been able to figure out what these nobles are supposed to be. Members
>of the clan ring are not necessarily thanes in the sense of being
>warrior landowners.
I think the references to "nobles" covers thanes, chiefs and kings. Thanes are not necessarily warriors, in fact most are probably farmers. There are specific references to weaponthanes which imply an equivelence of huscarl by possibly only the best of the full time warriors. So thane doesn't mean "warrior landowner" but is a title recognising success and standing in society whether as a farmer, a warrior or whatever.
>What is their position, and what is their werged,
>and who is it to be payed to?
TR page 42:
"If a thane be slain, or a hearthmistress, on one of the Ring, then fifty cows be the price, and five hands of seasons outlawry..."
Wergeld is not an absolute sum. I know it's listed in the books as if it was but those figures are the base to start haggling from.
Wergeld is paid from one bloodline to another, for few individuals have that sort of wealth. If separate clans are involved then the receiving bloodline will share the wergeld with the clan just as the paying bloodline will share the cost with their clan.
> ***
>
>On the wergeld. What is the position of a child of a thane, or even
>the child of a chieftain. If the person is an adult, but hasn't really
>accomplished anything yet. Is that person a cottar, a carl or a thane
>when it comes to wergeld?
Generally a cottar. Wergeld is a compensation for loss. Carls and thanes are worth more because of what they've done. Yes, I know the carl probably got his plough and oxen from his father but he won't usually have done so unless he has learnt to use them properly. They are just too valuable for a bloodline to leave them with an incompetant.
>How much do such things mean when one is far
>from home? If a thane get's captured, injured or killed when far from
>his home, how much does his/her social rank mean? Is the only effect
>that a rich person is more likely to be ransomed back to his/her own
>clan, where a poor person is just made into a thrall?
Generally such things don't mean much outside the clan's area of influence. Wergeld is a means of preventing or ending feuds between neighbours. If the victim's bloodline is too far away to do anything then they'll be ignored. Of course if the victim's clan warband is sitting just outside your tula that may well prompt the opening of negotiations.
>I have a few potential problems in my game. One character is a young
>esrolian goldentongue. The family is very rich, and the characters
>aunt is the dishthane of one of the queens of Nochet. What is the
>social status of such a goldentongue? He represents his bloodline and
>clan as a trader, but I guess he's not a thane himself. I guess the
>most important social aspect of him is being a godi of Issaries (since
>traders are not a respected profession as such).
>
>Another character is a daughter of Yinkin, a young demigod. What is
>the status and wergeld of such a person when she accompanies the
>trader's caravan to see the world. Her clan is a hunter oriented one,
>high in the foothills of the stormwalk mountains. She is the adopted
>daughter of the chief of the clan. What is her status, and what is her
>wergeld?
When a trader is on a clan tula he and his party will be guests, probably of someone important. Quite possibly the clan chief. So TR page 42 applies:
"If a guest of the stead be killed or maimed, then the price of the host."
This would actually be paid to the host's bloodline for it is their reputation that has been damaged but he would be expected to compensate the trader's family for the loss. So it's important who the trader guests with.
Most of Sartar is sufficently closely settled for a trader to be a guest of one clan or another pretty much all the time and for an important trader a clan chief is likely to provide an escort to the next clan on his route. However if he goes wandering in the wilds then he's on his own.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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