The Rogaviki

"Nor did [Casiru] find any hope of mobilizing the Rogaviki. That concept did not exist for them. His attempted explanations glided straight off."
-Poul Anderson, The Winter Of The World, II, p. 16.

I used to disregard anything that I was not interested in or did not see as important - which was a lot. Ninian Smart (and see here) said that once he stated some objections to another man's deeply held beliefs and the man seemed not to hear him.

"Donya promised she would investigate his warnings further. But a year went past before she seriously did." (ibid.)

Josserek learns that the Rogaviki never raid others, fight only when attacked and fight only as long as the enemy is on their territory. He wonders whether this can be true and thinks that it shows their innocence. (V, pp. 59-60)

It shows something else. With the benefit of hindsight, I realize that Poul Anderson was starting to tell us something important about the Rogaviki.