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#Post#: 51--------------------------------------------------
Ladies of the North
By: Chrysilla Date: January 10, 2014, 9:31 am
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"In the northern villages, and in the forest towns, and
northward on the coast the woman do not veil themselves, as is
common in the cities to the south."
"She wore black and silver, a full, ankle-length gown of rich,
black velvet, with silver belts, or straps, that crossed over
her breasts, and tied about her waist. From it, by strings, hung
a silver purse, that seemed weighty. Her blond hair was lifted
from the sides and back of her head by a comb of bone and
leather, like an inverted isosceles triangle, the comb fastened
by a tiny black ribbon about her neck, and another such ribbon
about her forehead. Her cloak, of black fur, from the black sea
sleen, glossy and deep, swirled to her ankles. It was fastened
at the left shoulder by a large circular brooch of silver,
probably from Tharna."
"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. 'Forfeit the girl,' said Bjarni
of Thorstein Camp, addressing the boy, 'and I will not kill
you.' '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!'"
"The free woman was a tall woman, large. She wore a great cape
of fur, of white sea-sleen, thrown back to reveal the whiteness
of her arms. Her kirtle was of the finest wool of Ar, dyed
scarlet, with black trimmings. She wore two brooches, both
carved of the horn of kailiauk, mounted in gold. At her waist
she wore a jewelled scabbard, protruding from which I saw the
ornamented, twisted blade of a Turian dagger; free women in
Torvaldsland commonly carry a knife; at her belt, too, hung her
scissors, and a ring of many keys, indicating that her hall
contained many chests or doors; her hair was worn high, wrapped
about a comb, matching the brooches, of the horn of kailiauk;
the fact that her hair was worn dressed indicated that she stood
in companionship; the number of keys, together with the
scissors, indicated that she was mistress of a great house. She
had gray eyes; her hair was dark; her face was cold, and harsh."
"Bera, his woman, rose to her feet. I could see that her mind
was moving with rapidity. 'Come tonight to our hall Champion,'
she said The Blue Tooth did not gainsay her. The woman of the
Jarl had spoken. Free women of the north have much power. The
Jarl's woman in the Kaissa of the north is a more powerful piece
than the Ubara in the Kaissa of of the south"
"Accordingly, to her astonishment, Bera, who had been the
companion of Svein Blue Tooth, discovered suddenly that she was
only one wench among others. From a line, as part of his spoils,
the Blue Tooth picked her out. She had displeased him mightily
in recent years. Yet was the Blue Tooth fond of the arrogant
wench. It was not until he had switched her, like any other
girl, that she understood that their relationship had undergone
a transformation, and that she was, truly, precisely what she
seemed to be, now his bond-maid."
"Slave girls fear free women muchly. It is almost as if there
was 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."
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