Aesir & Vanir
Aesir & Vanir
The Aesir and Vanir are Viking races with several very important differences. The Vanir have red-hair and the Aesir have yellow hair. The Aesir favor helmets with two bull’s horns while the Vanir helmets have no horns. The Vanir insist war axes must be double bladed, while the proper Aesir war ax has a single blade. A true Aesir war-boat will have a dragons’ head carved on each prow, but the Vanir war-boats will show a true sea-serpent on each prow. The Aesir are aligned with the deity Odin, and the Vanir are aligned with the deity Thor. The Nordic races are born sailors and will have advantage on any ability check related to sailing or fishing.
Ranks in Viking Society
King: A king is a chieftain who has consolidated more than one tribe or clan under his rule.
Chieftain: The chieftain has the responsibility of enforcing the laws of Viking society. A chieftain is expected to be generous in all things and to protect the honor of their clan against outsiders. The chieftain must be a good leader, a powerful warrior, excellent speaker, and an inspiration to his men. He is required to attend every Thing or Althing lest he lose his position.
Jarl: The Jarls are the upper class, the wealthiest of Viking. Jarls are the closest thing the Viking have to a nobility: the chiefs and sons of chiefs who commit their tribe's forces to their local King's army. They are the most well-equipped of the Viking, and act similarly to a general's bodyguard. They wear heavy scale mail, the heaviest armor available to the barbarians, but through conquest or alliance can gain access to other armor.
Hirdmadr: The Hirdmadr are those who have sworn allegiance to the king or chieftain and fight by his side.
Leiding: A leiding is a man who rents or leases his land to another in return for payment in food. A leiding is usually a wealthy land-owner or farmer and his tenant can be anyone from a former slave to a chieftain. He's a free man with all the rights and duties of such in Viking society.
Hauldr: A hauldr is a true free man with full rights and duties in Viking society. The hauldr owns his own land and has a hereditary right to that land; his family has owned the land for at least six generations. Most people in Viking society belong to this class of people.
Løysing: A løysing is a slave who has been set free by his owner because of hard work or exceptional service. He is usually still dependent upon and owes duties to his former owner. The children of løysing parents are free. Members of this class often participate in raids and military excursions in order to supplement their wealth. The only right they lack is a hereditary right to land.
Thrall: Thralls are slaves; thralls are not protected by the law but are treated as property. Killing a slave is not murder, so the killer need only replace the slave if it was owned by someone else. Children born of slaves are the property of their mothers’ owners. Slaves work hard and the only thing they are allowed to own are knives. Slaves are captured during raids. Other Vikings might become slaves if they find themselves unable to pay the mulct (fine) imposed by the Althing or Thing or unable to provide for themselves and/or their families.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Nordic is the language shared by the Viking peoples, and the Cimmerian tribesmen.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Only by dying in battle, with blade in hand and courage in the heart, can a Viking find his way to the the after-life paradise sought by all Norsemen. If a Viking dies without his weapons, he can still reach paradise by having his body set ablaze in a funeral pyre. This is so the smoke rises to the heavens, becoming a stairway for the souls of the departed to reach the Halls of Forever.
Related Organizations
Comments