King Hadding calls a folkmoot at which he will deal with thieves. Of course:
"Wind boomed and rain showers lashed at that meeting." (p. 113)
What else are they going to do?
"The king stood before it, facing the thieves, and cried through the weather..." (ibid.)
Thus the weather reinforces his judgment. Hadding has cunningly induced the men to confess and will now honour them as he had promised - by sending them to Odin. He gains a reputation of shrewdness and hardness. It is best to follow him.
His many good deeds:
wise and kind judgments;
generous gifts to both well-born and poor;
ending feuds;
clearing wilderness;
building thorps, marts and shipyards;
openings for the lowly;
encouragement of skalds and handicrafts;
fostering of trade with Jutes, Angles and Saxons.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
This is trivial, but what I thought of wast that, eventually, courts and legislative assemblies would meet inside buildings meant for those functions. More convenient and comfortable that way!
Ad astra! Sean
They had fairly substantial buildings -- the link below is to a detailed reconstruction of a chief's "hall".
But public assemblies were held in the open because it was the presence of all the free men in a given area that gave them validity.
Public actions had to be witnessed publicly, with the appropriate sacrifices and oaths.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I've seen one or two modern "reconstructions" of what a Scandinavian chief's hall was like; plus the drawings Tolkien made of how he imagined Beorn's would look like in THE HOBBIT. Substantial, but nothing like the great basilicas the Romans built.
Understood, what you said about Scandinavian "things" had to be held in the open, with all free adult males of a particular district attending, before its decisions could be valid. Woth the usual oaths and religious rites.
Ad astra! Sean
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