Skald
The Hordaman counterpart to a Weswaran skop — a boast-maker who travels with raiding parties and can, by the power of her words, intimidate the local landswights into yielding their stones. Ealstan blames their presence for the fall of villages whose runestones should have held. STD:FWH:Ch 13
Known facts
- boasts-overpower-runestonesEalstan, watching the longships move north, names skalds as the reason runestones fall — their boasts intimidate the landswights bound by a stone, negating the protection. Neahtun fell three months earlier despite having a stronger runestone than Stenford's.STD:FWH:Ch 13
- boasts-as-alliterative-verseThe Hordaman captain's skald composes her binding-boasts in tight alliterative verse, delivered in formal couplets — proclaiming her lineage, sapping the target's strength in turn, and finally pressing the vow upon him. John, playing along, has to mime resistance as each verse lands.STD:FWH:Ch 14
Backreferences
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 13