From: Roderick Robertson (ROBERTSON@delphi.intel.com)
Date: Thu 24 Aug 1995 - 19:50:00 EEST
From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp@idgecko.idsoftware.com>
>>I have a rather different view of wereguild than the one
>presented, >where it is a means of legitimizing or constraining
>violence.
> It has been pointed out that weregeld (or weregild? Someone
>give the right spelling here please, I _know_ it's not
>were"guild".) is NOT just the equivalent of a civil fine, but is set
>so high that NOBODY wants to spend it. Seven years income, for
>instance, is pretty much impossible for anyone to pay.
Weregild - it's of Saxon derivation.
> Weregeld is purposely set high in an attempt to prohibit
>such violence. It's not "putting a price on life", but a prevention
>of murder. Note that societies with Weregeld do not generally have
>prisons or other obvious forms of punishment for criminals, and no
>one wants a blood feud, so weregeld is set and hopefully no one
>kills anyone else.
In my studies (I'm working on the Pendragon Saxon supplement right now),
weregild is *not* a preventitive to murder, it is a compensation for a wrong.
The entire kin-group pays the Weregild, *not* just the murderer. Each person
pays according to his (her) family relation to the murderer - Mumsy and Daddy
pay a good chunk, Second-cousin Ernie pays a little. On the flip side, the
Kingroup splits weregild along the same lines - it is shared out among the whole
group.
A Kin group may decide to repudiate the murderer, making him responsible for
his own problem, but in that case they forgo the right to collect weregild *or*
claim vengeance if he is killed (It seems to have been a major life crises, you
do not have a family *ever* again).
The family of the deceased may decide to take vengeance instead of accepting
weregild. This is legal, but only as long as no-one else gets hurt. Saxon ideas
of Legal and Illegal are not quite the same as ours. It is legal (and no
weregild need be paid) to kill a man while defending your home, family, sworn
man or lord. It is Legal, (but you must pay weregild), to kill a man in a "fair
fight". It is illegal (and no weregild *can* be paid) to kill a man by
stealth, poison or magic.
Of course, this is all real world and ymmv in Glorantha.
Roderick
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