5101-Ivinia, The Viking Lands/culture/religion

Religion
The same deities prevail in Ivinia as in the rest of Lythia, but most Ivinians who worship anyone worship Sarajin. The “King of the Icy Wind” suits the northmen and their clime; they are his chosen people. Despite increasing contact with other religions over the last century, Sarajinianism remains the almost universal Ivinian practice. Religion is very much a matter of everyday life, almost taken for granted. Ivinians respect the gods but are not overly reverent. History and religious myth are intertwined in the eddas, tales of heroes, gods, and the divine. Skalds memorise and recite the eddas and periodically add to them. Some skalds dwell within the houses of great lords but most wander. They are clanless but highly respected as the guardians of an essentially oral tradition.

The Church of Sarajin
There is no hierarchy in the Church of Sarajin and no pontiff or primate. Where the faith is followed, the religious needs of the community are met by small clerical clans whose clanhouses serve as temples. The Ivinians tend to approach religion like any other business; it is loosely organized, with few rituals and a respect for an individual’s beliefs. Each clan may have a different interpretation of the truth but most value courage, strength, and skill at arms as cardinal virtues. Most clerics of Sarajin are warriors and dress accordingly.

Temple clanhouses are founded by one who “hears the call.” If the new clan prospers, then the call was clearly real. The valhakar of the clerical clan is effectively the temple priest. In addition to the normal rights and duties of an Ivinian clanhead, he governs the temple and interprets the religious mysteries. Command of the mysteries of the Sarajinian priesthood is part of the clan’s heritable property. It is shared among clan members and laity as deemed appropriate by the valhakar.

Clerical clans with no business other than religion tend to be small by Ivinian standards unless they are located in a major center. A large clerical greatclan will sometimes send a dozen or so of its members to establish a new clanhouse. Some aid and wealth may be sent with them but they will eventually become independent.

Clans embarking on a viking expedition often hire a cleric to accompany them to meet the religious needs of the party. The cleric will probably wield an axe with the rest of them and his clan would receive a negotiable share of the booty. Income is also obtained from those who seek blessings on their endeavors, their houses, or their families. Absolution from sin is paid for in silver. Payment for religious services is acceptable, even normal.

Sarajinians are not particularly dogmatic but theological disputes do arise from time to time. If one clerical clan dislikes what another is preaching, it may wage a private temple war to resolve the issue. Alliances may develop as the debate spreads to include more temples but disputes rarely grow to include more than a few clans.

Ljarl: Code of the Warrior
Most Ivinians ascribe to some version of the Ljarl, the code of honor advocated by the followers of Sarajin. Since the worship of Sarajin is virtually universal in Ivinia, it is impossible to draw a clear line between religious and cultural ethics. The cardinal virtues of the Ljarl are courage, duty, and truthfulness. Sarajin desires bravery in word and deed from his followers. He loves the sport of war and takes pleasure in large battles.

The highest achievement of a Sarajinian is to die in battle and it is sometimes said that “who follows the King of the Icy Wind worships death.” Honor means serving one’s master bravely and giving one’s life in his defense if necessary. This does not mean that life is cheap. Sarajinians try to live each day as if it were the last. Almost any opportunity for a drunken revel is seized, women are loved, wealth is gathered and spent, and all of this is done with extravagance. They have a zest for living and believe that the perfect life is crowned, not demeaned, by the perfect death. Life and death are one; the manner of each is important.

To many Ivinians, the Ljarl has nearly the force of physical law. It is a matter of pride to moral men that improper courses of action do not even occur to them. To behave badly is literally unthinkable. Every course of action is considered for its value to the lord; there is usually only one honorable choice and this makes life simpler for the worthy Ivinian.

The northmen do not, however, lack subtlety. The tragedies of internecine strife figure prominently in their myths and are the great horror of the vendetta system. The Ivinians are very fond of such quandaries. The honorable man forced to choose between dishonorable options is a favorite subject of folk tales and eddas. Not even the deity is immune to this kind of dilemma. The story of Skivaal is a popular example. Skivaal was a mortal son of Sarajin, conceived by the rape of his mother, who embarked on a quest to wreak vengeance on Sarajin and avenge his mother’s honor. Sarajin honored his son for his unselfish and dutiful willingness to avenge his mother against all hope of success, but despised him for wanting to slay his own father. The god, however, postponed resolution of the issue by robbing Skivaal of his memory, forcing him to sail the northern seas forever.

The berserker is an extreme product of Ljarlic customs. When a lord is slain, some of his more fanatical warriors may see no reason to live, particularly if they are unable to find a new lord. Such men often seek an honorable death at the earliest opportunity, wandering aimlessly about, perhaps obtaining temporary employment as mercenaries. Many are able to work themselves into an inhuman frenzy in battle.



= =