Ironlander

Demographics

Life expectancy at birth is 20 years. Only 50% of surviving newborns reach 7 years old. A typical couple usually has 2-3 living children at any one time. Few parents lived to see their children marry. Even fewer ever saw a grandchild. Three generation families were very rare.

Percentage of the Population	Age
50%	0-15
35%	16-50
12%	51-59
1-3%	60

Family Size

Each family would live on a single farm in a shared longhouse. A farmstead would consist of 10-20 people. Each longhouse would contain several husband-and-wife couples (one member of each couple typically related by blood to one member of every other couple) and their children.

Villages

• In prosperous regions, farms tended to cluster into small villages or hamlets.
• In less prosperous areas, individual farms were well separated.

Farms

• Farms were a central cluster of buildings enclosed by fences.
• Areas outside the fences were used for cultivation or grazing.
• Each homestead consisted of a longhouse and multiple out-buildings.
• Longhouses were typically built on a slope or higher ground for better drainage. A higher location allowed for better visibility of visitors to the farm.
• Longhouses were placed near running water.

Farm Life

• Each farm needed to be self-sufficient. With the exception of some luxury items, and some raw materials, everything needed for farm life was typically grown or manufactured on the farm. Wooden tools were made as needed. Every farm had to have a forge of some kind in order to be able to resharpen cutting tools such as scythes; whetting alone was insufficient for keeping frequently used tools sharp.
• Farm life was a constant struggle against starvation, cold, and disease.
• Most people expected to and did work their entire waking hours.
• Every farmer had to be prepared to defend his farm and property.
• A sense of solidarity was expected on a farm. In exchange for obedience and support, the farmer provided for defense and safety of his entourage.
• In addition, a farmer would look for support and assistance from people outside the farm: from family members; his chieftain; his neighbors; and others with whom he had made reciprocal arrangements for mutual help and protection.

Farming

• The main farming activity was animal husbandry consisting of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs in that order of important.
• A large farm might have 20 to 40 milk cows.
• Cattle are smaller at only 48 inches at the shoulder. Few bulls were kept. They reached puberty, bred widely and were then slaughtered in the fall before they consumed winter stores.
• During the winter, cattle were typically brought in-doors and fed from stored hay reserves.
• Sheep were raised for their fleece, milk and meat. They stood 24 inches at the shoulders and weighed about 80 pounds.
• The fleece from the male was preferred over the milk from the ewe.
• In the summer, cattle and sheep were driven to higher pasture for grazing.
• Horses were used for travel and transport but also for their meat. This was the most common form of meat in the diet.
• Goats graze year round but could be penned and feed from quality reserves.
• Goats were used for their milk and meat.
• Pigs are kept close to the home and used for their meat.
• Hay was an essential crop on the farm to maintain their livestock over the winter.
• Over 2 tons of hay was needed for each cow during the winter months.
• Each farm could produce .22 to .44 tons/acre in a good year. Farms would require 50 to 200 acres of land for hay cultivation to keep their livestock healthy over the winter.
• Hay was harvested using scythes, raked and turned and stacked against a wall for drying.
• Scythes needed constant resharpening.
• Hay would be stored in the attic, outbuildings and turf protected mounds outside during the winter.
• Barely, rye and oats were grown.
• Vegetables such as beans, peas, cabbage, and onions are grown.
• Utility crops such as flax were grown.
• Honey and mushrooms would be collected when availble.

Food

• Milk was turned into butter, cheese, and yogurts.
• Dairy products were stored in skin sacks and partially buried into vats for the winter. Stored dairy was their primary dairy source in the winter.
• Sour milk would preserve other foodstuffs.

Games

• Early strategy games that look like stress
• Dice games
• Drinking games
• A man and woman would be paired as a drinking partner. After each round, the group would compose verses to insult their opponents.
• Ball games
• Skin-throwing games
• Wrestling
• Swimming / Drowning games
• Stone lifting
• Tug of war

Naming Traditions

Unisex names

Ironlander Names

Culture

Average technological level

Medicine

• Lancing
• Cleaning wounds
• Anointing
• Bandaging
• Setting broken bones
• Herbal remedies
• Midwifery

Common Dress code

Men

• Overtunic
• Trousers
• Leg Wrappings
• Belt with pouch
• Cloak / Jacket
• Hat
• Gloves
• Socks
• Leather Boots

Women

• Under dress
• Overdress with straps held by brooches
• Head covering
• Belt with pouch
• Socks
• Leather shoes
• Cloak
• Hat
• Gloves

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Fostering

• A family will commonly give one of their children to another family for fostering. 
• This is a bond that can link a man to his social superior. A child from the superior family is often fostered to the inferior family.
• The foster parents receive payment of support from the birth parents.
• Fostering was not an adoption. It was a legal agreement and an alliance. This alliance could be stronger than blood-relations.
• Fostering also redistributed children amongst families. With a high infant mortality rate, some couples had no births. Upwards of 20% of couples had no live children. Fostering would provide with a child to help raise.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

• The typical adult woman had 7 pregnancies roughly 29 months apart. 
• During pregnancy, woman continued to work as normal and quickly returned to their duties after childbirth. 
• The mother accepts a child by nursing it at her breast.
• A father accepts a child by taking the infant onto his knee, naming the child, and sprinkling water over it.
• After both parents acceptance, the child had the rights of inheritance within the family.
• Mothers typically nursed until the child was 2 years old.
• An unwanted child, for various reasons, would be left for death by exposure. 

Funerary and Memorial customs

• The dead are usually buried in a funeral mound or cremated.
• The funeral mounds are usually within walking distance of the village.
• Funeral mounds are ideally placed opposite of a stream or river to the village.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Women:

• Flashing her arms
• Long, shiny hair
• Wisdom

Men:

• Well groomed (bathed, hair kept, beard kept)
• Facial hair
• Bold, independent behavior

Courtship Ideals

Courtship

• Adulthood: Male - 15; Female - 12; nearly all women were married by the age of 20.
• Often relationships were to build and an alliance between families. Marriage was a key method of passing wealth to the next generation.
• Initiated by a male suitor; approved by the woman's father.
• Courting would often take the form of visits from the male to the woman's house, conversations with the woman or poems/songs of praise.
• If a marriage proposal did not immediately follow courting, the woman's family would be embarrassed and insulted. If a marriage proposal was rejected, the male's family could be similarly injured. Blood vengeance could be sought.

Betrothal

• A contact is negotiated by the woman's guardian and the suitor or his father. The woman can reject the proposal, but at great cost.
• Coercion can occur to force an attractive political or economic bond between two families.
• The groom agrees to pay a bridge price to obtain the woman.
• The bride's father agrees to pay a dowry at the wedding.
• The two parties shake hands in front of witnesses to complete the deal and arrange a date within the next year. Late summer or early fall were preferred to coincide with the harvest.

Wedding

• An elaborate festivity with feasting and drinking occurring for several days.
• The bride and groom both take a ritual steam bath. 
• The bride and groom do not wear special clothing. The bride wears a flowered circlet and the groom wears a borrowed iron sword. The sword is presented to the bride during the ceremony to show that she is the custodian of his line.
• After the ceremony, both families rush in a race to the feasting hall with the loser being forced to serve the alcohol.
• The bride had to escorted over the threshold per traditions.
• The groom would thrust the sword into a center column with the depth of the sword being an indication of the fortunes of their union.
• The bride and groom share a honeyed mead from the same horn. They are gifted enough to last for a month as their "honeymoon".
• The event typically occurs at the home of the bride's parents.
• The marriage became binding when at least 6 witnesses saw the couple openly go to bed together. They usually escort the couple with lights to bed and watch as he ceremoniously removes her flower circlet.

Divorce

• Either bride or groom could seek a divorce for a variety of reasons: no children could dissolve the marriage.
• Either bride or groom could declare the divorce in front of witnesses to make it binding.
• Shared finances of the couple would need to be negotiated. Blood vengeance could be sought.

Adultery

• The groom could adulterer without penalty with another unmarried woman. Some rich men are able to keep concubines directly in their home.
• The groom cannot adulterer with another married woman. Blood vengeance could be sought.
• A married woman caught cheating will often have her hair shorn short, divorced, or murdered.

Relationship Ideals

Love

• A woman will make a shirt for a man she likes.
• A man will pick flowers for a girl he likes.
• A man will sit a women he loves near him.
• A man and woman may share a drinking horn.
• A man will sit a woman on his lap to cuddle and kiss.
• A man will place his head in a woman's lap to have her play with his hair and beard.

Death

• In the case of the death of partner, the surviving member would quickly remarry.

Related Locations

• Ironlands