The stake in this
challenge was the young man's sister, a comely, blond
lass of fourteen, with braided hair.
She was dressed in the full regalia of
a free woman of the north. The clothes were not rich, but
they were clean, and her best. She wore two brooches; and
black shoes. The knife had been removed from the sheath
at her belt; she stood straight, but her head was down,
her eyes closed; about her neck, knotted, was a rope, it
fastened to a stake in the ground near the dueling
square. She was not otherwise secured.
"I do not care much for the making
women of Torvaldsland bond," said Ivar. "It seems
improper," he whispered to me. "They are of
Torvaldsland!"
"How shameful!" said the free woman,
sternly.
The slave girls groveled at her feet.
Slave girls fear free women muchly. It is almost as if
there were some unspoken war between them, almost as if
they might be mortal enemies. In such a war, or such an
enmity, of course, the slave girl is completely at the
mercy of the free person; she is only slave. One of the
great fears of a slave girl is that she will be sold to a
woman. Free women treat their female slaves with
incredible hatred and cruelty. Why this is I do not know.
Some say it is because they, the free women, envy the
girls their collars and wish that they, too, were
collared, and at the complete mercy of masters.
Free women view the platform with
stern disapproval;
on it, female beauty is displayed for
the inspection of men; this, for some reason, outrages
them; perhaps they are furious because they cannot
display their own beauty, or that they are not themselves
as beautiful as women found fit, by lusty men with
discerning eyes, for slavery; it is difficult to know
what the truth is in such matters; these matters are
further complicated, particularly in the north, by the
conviction among free women that free women are above
such things as sex, and that only low and loose girls,
and slaves, are interested in such matters; free women of
the north regard themselves as superior to sex; many are
frigid, at least until carried off and collared; they
often insist that, even when they have faces and figures
that drive men wild, that it is their mind on which he
must concentrate his attentions; some free men, to their
misery, and the perhaps surprising irritation of the
female, attempt to comply with this imperative; they are
fools enough to believe what such women claim is the
truth about themselves; they should listen instead to the
dreams and fantasies of women, and recall, for their
instruction, the responses of a free woman, once
collared, squirming in the chains of a bond-maid. These
teach us truths which many women dare not speak and
which, by others, are denied, interestingly, with a most
psychologically revealing hysteria and vehemence. "No
woman," it is said, "knows truly what she is until she
has worn the collar." Some free women apparently fear sex
because they feel it lowers the woman. This is quite
correct. In few, if any, human relationships is there
perfect equality. The subtle tensions of dominance and
submission, universal in the animal world, remain
ineradicably in our blood; they may be thwarted and
frustrated but, thwarted and frustrated, they will
remain. It is the nature of the male, among the mammals,
to dominate, that of the female to submit. The fact that
humans have minds does not cancel the truths of the
blood, but permits their enrichment and enhancement,
their expression in physical and psychological ecstasies
far beyond the reach of simpler organisms; the female
slave submits to her master in a thousand dimensions, in
each of which she is his slave, in each of which he
dominates her.
"I do not approve of the platform,"
said the free woman, coldly.
Forkbeard did not respond to her, but
regarded her with great deference.
Bera, his woman, rose to her feet. I
could see that her mind was moving with rapidity.
"Come tonight to our hall, Champion,"
said she.
The Blue Tooth did not gainsay her.
The woman of the Jarl had spoken. Free women in the north
have much power. TheJarl's Woman, in the Kaissa oit the
north, is a more pow-erful piece than the Ubara in the
Kaissa of the south. This is not to deny that the Ubara
in the south, in fact, exercises as much or more power
than her northern counterpart. It is only to recognize
that her power in the south is less explicitly
acknowledged.
The Forkbeard looked to Svein Blue
Tooth. Svein fingered the tooth on its chain."Yes," said
he, "come tonight to my hall-Champion."
There had then been again much
cheering. Svein B1ue Tooth, high jarl of Torvaldsland,
followed by his woman, and high officers and counsellors,
and other followers, then took his way from the dais.
Free Women's role on the Isle
Free Women of AxeHolme, shall
hopefully, fulfil the following Roles. The High Women
shall consist of the Companions of the Jarl and the
Steward plus the Holmes's Skald. The Castes commonly used
by FW around Gor will not be recognised, this is
Torvaldsland, All Men are Warriors first then Farmers or
Smiths or whatever role they wish to play in a domestic
situation. The same shall apply to the Free Women, they
are homemakers primarily but may of course also indulge
in a Trade such as Healer or Merchant etc., it is They
who command in all things to do with the upkeep and
mainenance of the Hall. In chores and service FW rule the
bonds-maids. All Free Women will also be associated in
some manner to a Man of the Holme, eg. companion, Sister,
niece, etc.
Conduct in The Holme
Free Women of Torvaldsland, conduct
themsleves in an outward appearance of chastity at all
times, with the exception of showing Love and affection
towards thier FC/Man. The Free Women of Torvaldsland are
therefore commonly protected from enslavement. Free women
in the north have much power, they are forthright and
outspoken. The Men of the North show deference to the
words of High Women. Additionally Free Women of the
North, as is common in most Farmer/Warrior societies go
armed, and will defend themselves with deadly force if
necessary. However They may be enslaved under the
following circumstances;