The Lann have fought each other for their "'...harsh and barren land.'" (p. 73) Their numbers grow while the weather becomes colder and stormier and harvests thinner. So now they will fight the Dalesmen for their rich land.
Carl protests that there is room for both tribes. Forests can be cleared and farmed. But Lenard, son of the Lann Chief, scorns to come as a beggar and also doubts that there is enough land for both. They could come not as beggars but with something to offer and the population question would have to be addressed over time. The book should work toward a resolution where Dalesmen and Lann become able to coexist and cooperate.
Sometimes we ask, "Wasn't there a Star Trek like this?" In one episode, extragalactics began to invade and conquer the Milky Way but Kirk got their leader to see that the Federation would help them to settle uninhabited planets so that there was no need for conflict.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
We saw something similar in real history during the Viking Age in Europe. Partly because of increased population in a Scandinavia which the technology then available was unable to support, raiders from Denmark and Norway began harrying the coasts of western Europe in the 790's. The raids increased in ferocity and numbers when the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire and the resulting anarchy made such banditry very profitable. The next stage was when ambitious Danish and Norse chiefs began to seize territories in France, England, Ireland, and parts of Scotland. Or to colonize Iceland and Greenland (and a short lived colony in "Vinland").
So the situation described in VAULT OF THE AGES was realistic. In fact, probably because it was meant to be a juvenile, the ferocity and savagery seen in the historical example I cited was not seen in the book. I mean, we don't see the Lann behaving with the sheer savagery as our Vikings.
Sean
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