ES - Re: response to role playing
Richard Culver
rbculver at hotmail.com
Mon Aug 14 08:17:51 PDT 2000
>But I knew a norseman once who aspired to knighthood, and
>I told him never to let his persona be an excuse for
>unchivalrous behavior.
>
>- Galen
Very true indeed, your Excellency. This sort goes back to how I feel
persona play is educational. Anyone who has really read, for example,
thorough accounts of Scandinavian culture would know it was really a high
culture. Yes, it was violent, but I would argue really no more so than
anywhere else at the time nor were the incidents as wide spread as we tend
to think.
Having played as Scandinavian persona when I first played in '92, I
personally tried to avoid the stereotypes. These were a folk with an
abundant level of culture which ended up greatly shaping the world we have
today. Some think the greatest sin is not getting a battle death, but if
you read most of the myths and the sagas, these people cared more about
maintaining hospitality and the repercussions of breaking it.
On a broader level, there was a great respect for the dead and leaving
them be. They just did not steal anything. If people will note the two
times a major monster battle happens in Beowulf, it was after a thegn to a
king decided it would be fun to rob a grave.
Knowing stuff like this really puts in perspective to me personally. I
often find, even across religious and cultural lines, many ideals are held,
even in the most seemingly venomous of lands.
Godspeed,
Cyniric
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.
More information about the Elfsea
mailing list