Kinsmen to kinsmen should be true.

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Each Thursday I select a Viking quote to share. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. _{original im src}

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This week's Viking quote

Kinsmen to kinsmen should be true - Óláfs saga helga

Blood relations is what kinsman means and it's probably fair to say that throughout history people have felt beholden to their kinsman. I believe the same could be said for the Vikings hence the phrase above.

History, and modern society, is full of examples of family members being at odds with each other though. It happens in families from time to time and usually takes the form of disagreement, harsh words, gossip-mongering and sometimes physical blows and ostracization...or worse. It's probably considered quite typical of families, we can't always agree. At times family feuds spill over into outright hostility and over the course of human history there's been many such cases. The War of the Roses comes to mind, a feud over the English crown between the related Houses of Lancaster and York.

Of course, in contrast there's many examples of families banding together to take on another family over a transgression or slight, perceived or real. The Vikings with, essentially no government to enforce law in the couple of hundred years of early colonisation, families took matters into their own hands.

It was a families' right to take compensation should one of their members be murdered for instance.

They demanded a payment called weregild - the man price - for the slaying or would, in turn, slay a member of the other family as a means to make things right. The entire family would be responsible in meting out this justice also, which indicates the strength and importance placed upon the family unit. Predictably, the slayings often occurred for generations, long after the original slight was forgotten.

These days this type of justice is largely unheard of although one would be naïve to think it doesn't happen. Family units have clung together through great trials, tribulations and adversity and have fractured and broken also although I'd say that mostly loyalty to the family unit is more prevalent.

I chose this quote today, not solely from the family aspect, but wanted to expand the message to encompass those a person holds dear to them: Family and friends included.

Also, and possibly a little more of stretch, is a person's loyalty unto themselves; their personal values, honour, integrity and such. Honour and integrity mean a lot to me personally - I'll not elaborate on this post - but having loyalty to oneself to take characteristics like those to heart, display and deploy them, is a strong mark of a man, or woman, and when I see it I respond favourably...Even when it's me doing it.

Human's make mistakes and as human family and friends groups are comprised of humans it's a given that disagreements will occur, just as it's a given that a family may be subjected to some transgression or other they feel requires retribution. I'm ok with that too; I have a defend and protect those who cannot do so for themselves ethos, and whilst I temper retribution a little more these days than I have in the past, I am true to my kinsmen, those I value and hold dear, family and friends.

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That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote that extols the righteousness of loyalty to oneself, family, friends and valued others.

In the comments below, please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own if you like, tell a story around this quote or general topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.