Posted: September 28, 1999 at 00:38:34: by Michael Martinez
: : Gondor. This is a hearder question because we seem to get
: : quite a lot about the details (succession, internal politics,
: : expansion), but it is all of a vague nature. Sometimes it
: : seems fuedal, but do we really want to assume that the
: : farmers and fisherfolk of the outlying lands were the serfs
: : of the Kings and Stewards (and therefore Aragorn), compelled
: : to devote a significant amount of uncompensated labor to the
: : service of the crown. Is Gondor a nation of slaves? If so,
: : why all the references to living in slavery under Sauron? If
: : so, is living under the winged crown of Gondor any better
: : than under the iron heel of Sauron?: Good point, Dave. I don't think that Gondor would have had
: slaves, though. It seems that Aragorn (and others) are not very
: fond of slavery, especially under Sauron. The most sophisticated (and probably most convincing) arguments with which I have had to contend do not subscribe (at least overtly) to a manorial system in Gondor with serfs and loss of land, privleges, and liberties. The feudalism argued for is usually less pervasive than what was developed in Europe and the Orient during historical times. Feudalism at its core is the exchange of personal obligations in which one party is considered to be superior in some way to the other party. Most of us think of land-for-service and lord-protecting-serfs, but the point has been made (well made, I think) elsewhere that that is only one aspect of feudalism and is not a prerequisite for identifying a feudal system. Let me propose a hypothetical system unrelated to Middle-earth's societies. Suppose we have 100 towns. Each town is governed by a "lord". This lord administers justice, defends the town and its adjoining lands, and is somehow involved in the law-making processed (although not necessarily ruling by edict). In the face of some external threat, the lords of smaller towns offer their military services to the lords of greater towns. In exchange the lords of the larger towns are obligated to defend the smaller towns from attack, whether it be by neighboring towns or external enemies. Hence, if one of the greater lords must move to defend one of the smaller towns, he has the right to summon the lords of the other small towns who are feudally obligated to follow him in war. He is their superior in that respect. Each of the lesser lords can only call upon his benefactor for aid -- they cannot summon other lords to their aid. That system of obligation is all that's required of a feudal system. If it survives it should evolve into a more sophisticated structure, but we need not speculate on that. There is no identifiable feudal structue in Gondor, going strictly by what Tolkien wrote. But there are clear obligations of mutual defense between Gondor's regions. What is most often argued by the sophisticated feudalists is that these obligations of mutual defense exist between the lords of Gondor rather than between Gondor's people and the state. I do not have time right now to weigh the pros and cons of the argument.
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