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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Galloglaich" data-source="post: 4674997" data-attributes="member: 77019">I agree with most of what you wrote, though I interpret the meaning of the same facts differently.  I would argue for example that Iceland changed to an authoritarian society due to intense external pressure from the new Roman style Monarch of Norway and only after conversion to Christianity (and the resultant change to the underlying social structure that brought about).  After all that democratic system they had in Iceland came from somewhere, they didn't invent it as you are aware they had the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_%28assembly%29" target="_blank">Thing</a> in Norway, Denmark and Sweden too and it's importance didn't fade until they converted and got Continental style Monarchs (heralding the beginning of the end of the Viking Age).  Iceland was sufficiently isolated that the old system persisted late enough for us to get a glimpse of how it functioned thanks to Snorri Sturrlson and others who wrote it all down for us in the Middle Ages. Again I think Grettir's Saga is a very good snapshot of how their society was changing and why, as is Egils Saga which shows you the rise of the Monarchy in Norway and how stubborn pagans like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson" target="_blank">Egil</a> reacted to it.Another of histories truly amazing figures.We both know the sources, we both have our own interpretations.  I personally think people can figure a lot out by reading the Primary sources and archeological evidence themselves, which you can do now thanks to the internet, (for those others reading the thread all those Icelandic sagas are available free online in various places) you prefer to rely on interpretations you trust.  I'm an outsider and an autodidact, you are an educated man.Lets agree for now that our 'duel' here has resulted in a fair fight, both took minor wounds, honor has been satisified, and we can go on with discussing how to implement Science in RPGs <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I like Njals saga a lot too incidentally, the comeuppance with the hair / bowstring is one of the more shocking moments in literature.  I love the family sagas in general for their air of realistic verisimilitude (in spite of the occasional Troll or ghost), though I suspect as larger than life as Egil, Grettir, Aude the Deep Minded, etc. seem to us, the close up we get to see of them is a mere shadow of what wen't on before during the height of the Viking era.  In the earlier works such as Saxo's Gesta we can see distance glimpses of some of the really remarkable characters of the Viking Age, like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathgertha" target="_blank">Lathgertha</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok" target="_blank"> Ragnar</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rn_Ironside" target="_blank">Bjorn Ironside</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollo" target="_blank">Gange Rolf</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik" target="_blank">Rurik</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_the_Boneless" target="_blank">Ivar the Boneless</a> etc.; as well as some of their worthy adverseraries like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_great" target="_blank">Alfred the Great</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Boru" target="_blank">Brian Boru</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odo,_Count_of_Paris" target="_blank">Count Odo</a>.And for the record I think a more nuanced understanding of all this stuff, from the structure of the Church to the political system of the Germanic barbarians is all useful fodder for DnD games, and an interesting alternative to the usual Thundar the Barbarian type cliches.Enjoyed the exchange mate, appreciate anyone with a serious interest in history, regardless of our disagreements.    G.</blockquote>

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