Ospak is:
"...a godi, a chief who holds sacrifices..." (p. 195)
A chief who is also a priest, like Melchizedek? Church-state unity? No. The unity that preceded the differentiation of sacred from secular and of states, "bodies of armed men," from the rest of society.
"'We have no king on Iceland,' [Ospak] grunted. 'Our forefathers came hither to get away from kings. Now we meet at the Things to try suits and pass new laws, but each man must get his own redress as best he can.'" (p. 197)
Anarchists and Terrestrial equivalents of Poul Anderson's Ythrians.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Actually, some of the chiefs in Iceland descended from local kings Harald Fairhair defeated as he was unifying Norway in the 860's. Some of them were unwilling to accept Harald's rule and emigrated to Iceland.
And the system described in "The Man Who Came Early" was breaking down later on, in the late 12th century.
Ad astra! Sean
Specialization and division of labor is a mark of higher levels of social development.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Which means of us have no need to know the "simpler" Gerald made such a hash of in "The Man Who Came Early."
Ad astra! Sean
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