The House of the Wolfings · Chapter
VIII: The Folk-Mote of the Markmen explained
The Folk-Mote of the Markmen gathers in solemn assembly.
What happens
The Folk-Mote of the Markmen gathers in solemn assembly. Bork of the Geirings reports on the Roman invasion, describing the flight of the herdsmen and the destruction wrought by the Romans. Geirmund of the Shieldings follows with a poetic account of the Hundings' fall. The assembly votes unanimously to go to war, chooses Thiodolf as War-duke, and then debates a second duke, with Heriulf stepping aside in favor of Otter, who is chosen. Thiodolf accepts the dwarf-wrought ring and hauberk, and the war-arrow is sent forth.
Themes in this chapter
Ritual and Custom
The Folk-Mote is conducted with formal rituals: the horn is blown, the Thing is hallowed, and the War-duke is chosen by acclamation and invested with the ancient gold ring.
Freedom vs. Oppression
The speeches of Bork and Geirmund emphasize the Roman threat to the freedom and way of life of the Markmen, contrasting their own liberty with the Romans' lust for domination.
Honor and Heroism
Heriulf's selfless decision to step aside for Otter, and the assembly's unanimous choice of Thiodolf, highlight the heroic values of wisdom, humility, and collective honor.
Characters to notice
- Thiodolf
Chosen as War-duke by the Folk-Mote; accepts the dwarf-wrought ring and hauberk, and speaks on the hill.
- Otter
Named by the Folk as a candidate for second War-duke; ultimately chosen after Heriulf steps aside.
- Heriulf
Ancient warrior of the Wolfings; steps aside from the election of second War-duke, urging the choice of Otter.
- Agni
Dayling warrior who opens the Folk-Mote, calls for the choice of War-duke, and presides over the proceedings.
- Asmund the Old
Mentioned as the old Dayling who blows the horn to silence the assembly.
- Geirmund
Minstrel of the Shieldings who speaks in rhyme about the fall of the Hundings and the Roman threat.
Key passages
“I am Bork, a man of the Geirings of the Upper-mark: two days ago I and five others were in the wildwood a-hunting, and we wended through the thicket, and came into the land of the hill-folk; and after we had gone a while we came to a long dale with a brook running through it, and yew-trees scattered about it and a hazel copse at one end; and by the copse was a band of men who had women and children with them, and a few neat, and fewer horses; but sheep were feeding up and down the dale; and they had made them booths of turf and boughs, and were making ready their cooking fires, for it was evening.”
Bork recounts how he and five companions, while hunting in the wildwood, encountered a refugee band of herdsmen in a dale, who had fled from the Roman invasion and were living in makeshift shelters.
Bork's testimony provides firsthand evidence of the Roman devastation and the displacement of the hill-folk.
“Lo the curse of the world cometh hither; for the men that we took in the land Said thus, that their host is gathering with many an ordered band To fall on the wildwood passes and flood the lovely Mark, As the river over the meadows upriseth in the dark.”
Bork warns that the Romans are assembling a vast army to invade the Mark, comparing their advance to a flood overwhelming the land.
This poetic warning galvanizes the assembly and underscores the existential threat.
“Hearken, children! I am old and war-wise; but my wisdom is the wisdom of the sword of the mighty warrior, that knoweth which way it should wend, and hath no thought of turning back till it lieth broken in the field.”
Heriulf declares that his battle wisdom is straightforward and relentless, like a sword that only stops when shattered.
Heriulf's speech contrasts his old-fashioned valor with the need for a more cunning leader like Otter against the new Roman foe.
