Talk:Kingdom of Miðrvegr

Expanded lore on Miðrvegr for native charactres and estate holders; who is “of the north”, negative traits, rank, government and law, virtues, insults, fights and duels, hospitality, fate, worship and the afterlife.

Usage warning

This page represents expanded lore for the players of Miðrvegr. It is geared towards those who are interested in playing natives or estate owners. One of the real values of Sanctuary is that it is home to travelers who bring all manner of unique perseptive to our role-play. No aspect of this page or any other on this wiki should be used to brow-beat, shame or belittle another player. If for some reason, you meet someone playing a native who is off page, please instead bring the issue to one of the admins or the kingdom leader that we might handle it respectfully.

Traveler's Guide to Miðrvegr

It is first important to understand that all laws, traditions and customs of Midrvegr apply only to those people who are considered to be "of the north". Everything that we will discuss in this travel guide; hospitality, legal status, honorable combat and so on apply only to other northmen -- it does not apply to anyone not of their culture. It is simply ridiculous for one not of their culture to accuse them of being liars, theives or dishonorable -- northmen consider such accussations to be the petty complaints of a skraeling who can't accept the fact that they lost. They will mock you.

Who are "Of the North"

Membership in the north is determined in a series of concentric rings which begin with one's extended family and immediate community. Kinship ties are extensive and one's third cousin is as important to someone as their own sibling. It is by the extended family that power and position are determined. Kinship ties include adopted family, family by marriage and bonds forged on the battle field.

One's village or town is obviously considered to be "of the North". Nearby communities that follow the traditions of the assemblies of law, similiar customs and worship northern gods are also be considered "of the north". When Kraestret adopted Yrsa-as-Hel as their goddess on the Arcane Crystal they too were accepted, at least politically, as being "of the north". Certainly natives of Midrvegr might not consider those of Kraestret to be "as north" as they are, but at least common respect born out of similiar traditions can be established.

Skraeling are people who are not "of the north".

Negative Traits

The people of Midrvegr are generally xenophobic and admire overt masculinity. They have very little care or compassion for other people. While they are a culture that admires hospitality to a near-religious degree it may not apply to forgeiners. They are quick to fight, boastful and then frustratingly laconic.

Rank

There are three social ranks; the thrall who are slaves, the karl (or carl) who are free farmers and craftsmen, and the jarl who are local cheiftands or landed estate owners. A karl in the direct personal service of a jarl is known as a huskarl. All karls are expected to be able to fight and keep their weapons in good order.

The rank of jarl applies to a broad range of people of rank. A jarl can be nothing more then the leader of a small village or as great as a man with a large estate, lands and soldiers. There are no intermediary ranks or terms to define a person's prestige. One might say that "he is a great jarl", or that he is a "lesser jarl", but these are not ranks. The head of a family maybe known as a Jarl if he leads a land based location, or he may be known as a cheiftan. The feminine of jarl is jarlkona. Jarl is equivelant to the rank of Earl in other cultures.

The leader of the country is known as the king or queen, but they are also essentially a jarl. A king may be known as the high jarl, or if there are two great jarls in Midrvegr of equal rank at a given time, one may be known as King and the other as High Jarl. This has happened in such times when the ruler is a queen but not a warrior, and their husband is a man of great marital power and prestige, in such case he is called the High Jarl.

Midrvegr knights are known as riddari, female knights may be called shieldmaidens.

Government and Law

There are no kingdom laws. Each land based community sets their own laws via a democratic process known as a thing, which is an assembly of law. The head of each house, usually a man, has an equal voice to speak at the assembly and determine the laws of the area. The person who facilitates the thing is known as the law speaker, a role that is responsible for remembering and recounting the local laws and its history. Regions then have quarterly or yearly gatherings which are known as the land-thing where representatives of each local thing attend. These people are often priests, known as Galdr, or the local Jarl. The kingdom also has a quarterly or yearly gathering known as the all-thing.

The thing is also the courts of law and the same democratic process for the determination of law is followed to determine court cases. The people of Midrvegr are very proud of this process, which has been in effect for milennium and it is one of the ways in which other cultures are judged. When ever possible, court cases are settled with the giving of wergild.

Virtues

Those of Midrvegr consider honesty, hospitality, courage, loyalty, cleverness and luck to be their primary virtues of a man who is considered to be drengur. There are exceptions to this rule in modern Midrvegr. Certainly, sheild maidens and other warrior women consider themselves to be drengr and would be insulted if treated otherwise. Men who have actively chosen a role traditionally fulfilled by a woman are left alone and treated with the respect one would give a woman.

Insults, Fights & Duels

Those of Midrvegr take the delivering of insults to an art. In fact, the art is known as flyting and is considered a great skill among all people including warriors. The winner of a flyting contest, formal or casual, is usually determined by the audience who make their opinion on the skill of the competition known through jeers and cheers. One is expected to loose a flyting contest gracefully and go have a drink.

However, not all disagreements are flyting, and many end in fights. It is expected that if a fight begins because of insults, that it will remain between the two, and that afterwards they will drink and the tension will be reduced or a friendship established. Some insults are considered so grave that a formal duel between the hazel wands will be demanded. In the case of a duel, there is almost always something of value on the line; land, slaves, gold. The worse insult one man can give to another is that they are effeminate. The term most commonly used was ergi.

Hospitality

The practice of hospitality is so core to the culture of Midrvegr that it is one of the ways in which they determine the value of other cultures, and is perhaps why the people of Midrvegr and Andus manage to find common ground even in the face of significant differences. Hospitality is so core to the culture that there is an entire religious epic poem written on the topic. This document is known as the Havamal.

Fate, Worship & Afterlife

The Midrvegr concept of fate is complex and backwards to the understanding of most travelers. To most travelers, the concept of fate is something that happens in the future. To those of Midrvegr one's fate is determined by one's ancestry and one's future is a debt that is payed forward. While Midrvegrians understand the concept of free will and personal choice they also beleive that in a very real way the date of their death is predetermined. One's fate is not an impersonal determination but rather the summation of what came before us and is written as "should happen" by the Norns.

This very personal relationship of one's fate and ancestry is also a part of a Midrvegrian's worship. The northern gods are not seen as being ominipotant or omnipower, but rather as greater dieties with the ability to grant or withhold luck. The relationship between a mortal and a northern god is much like that of the relationship between a huskarl and his jarl. Loyalty and respect are given that generosity and luck are returned. There are no such things as weekly religious services, instead priests and priestess are part of the day to day lifes of the people, addressing such things as illness, domestic violence, coming of age events, birth, and death. There are four major holidays which fall on the equinox and solstice.

It is common for all homes to have small shrines, all farms to have sacred trees, many regions to have sacred groves called Ve, and larger towns and cities to have temples called Hof. The hall of the local Jarl is the most commoon place for large religious gatherings. Personal worship happens closet to home, with trips to the Ve or Hof only happening during times of festival, or as a sacred journey for a special case or problem. The sea is considered a sacred place for all who live on the coast line.

Finally, there are two major locations for the afterlife; Valhala and Helheim. Helheim are the halls of Yrsa-as-Hel where most people go, and Valhala are the halls of warriors who died in glorious battle. It is important to understand that the people of Midrvegr beleive that the ideal path to the afterlife is to win glory and reknown on the battle field.

See Also

• Gurps Vikings
• The Viking Answer Lady
• Jackson Crawford

The Viking Mentality

(From Viking Mentality)

There were three demigods named the Norns… who would spin people’s destinies like thread… when they decided that person’s life was going to be over, they would take scissors and cut the thread – ending it. And these Norns, these three wise women, even had domain above the gods. They decided even the gods’ fate. To Vikings, this was a very important aspect of their life, that their destiny was already decided.

A lot of people can’t grasp this is a POSITIVE concept; but it’s all about that perspective. In the modern day, this kind of determinism often gets a negative reaction. Some people argue that if that their destiny is already decided then they can that as a reason to sit back and do nothing or to do less, or to just be lazy, to just stop caring. Because why bother if it’s already decided? The Vikings took an opposite perspective to this, which you can see throughout their culture. They felt that their destiny, the end of their life, was already decided. But to them, that meant that the entire moment until that happened was a timeframe that could be faced free of fear; they were going to MAKE THE GODS NOTICE THEM.

They believed their death may be decided but it was up to them to make history remember their presence. They wanted the people around them, their community, to remember their name. They wanted the gods to notice them and for Odin to come down and invite them to Valhalla or to Frey to come down and invite the shieldmaidens to her afterlife and her group of female warriors.

They wanted to be the biggest possible version of themselves and leave a legend that a god would notice in their place once they passed away.

If they did – then eternal life. On one hand, with Odin and the afterlife or Frigg, but also back on Earth among the living, as a Viking legend. Knowing that the Vikings were known to do everything to the biggest of their abilities. And they weren’t afraid to explore new territories and push their boundaries. And the best of the Vikings, they’re the ones we’ve heard of now. Many historians agree the Viking culture is perhaps the single biggest influence of culture in the ancient ages, perhaps even until the age of the internet, because they went further than anybody else. They traveled, they sailed to new lands, and as they explored, either through trade or through conquering warfare, they were spreading culture. They were spreading ideas, they were introducing people who had never been introduced otherwise.

And it was through pushing their limits, pushing their boundaries. They always wanted to grow to something bigger. They always wanted to do something bigger. And if somebody said it couldn’t be done, chances are that somewhere along the line, a Viking would come up and try to do it. They are the ones who decided they could sail the open seas. They’re the ones that pushed those limits and found North America 500 years before Columbus.

They didn’t just find it though, they were the first ones who tried to settle there in Greenland and parts of Canada. They also sailed down into the Mediterranean. Take a look at a map; Scandinavia and the Mediterranean are not near each other at all. You had to go all the way around the coast from the North Sea to the Straits of Gibraltar between what are now the countries of Spain and Morocco. And not only did they get down there and find it, but they tried to expand into it as well. They had an overall fearless mentality of pushing their own limits. And again, through that, not only would they get the most out of their life, but they would be remembered. And that’s the Viking mentality that we want people to embrace; pushing their limits and getting the most out of it.