[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by JennyHallu

I'm a little confused on where Eodwine gets his ideas of generosity.

From Beowulf; with a gloss. From that book comes the idea of lords as ring-givers in order to secure the loyalty of their warriors. Eodwine is an idealist, which makes him attractive to good people but also gets him in trouble with opportunists. He's enough of a realist to realize this, and puts hope in his retainers that they will be enough of a support to offset - or better yet - insulate the mead hall from - the damage 'opportunists' might try to wreak.

Originally Posted by Jenny

I fear Eodwine runs the risk of over-familiarity with his vassals and subjects, and Marenil shall work to correct that.

Well he might. He's got a lord who started life as a farmer/commoner, who was thrust into lordship by a gracious king, and who will be a bad student in terms of becoming less familiar with his vassals.

By all means, have Marenil make the suggestions you've mentioned. This should be quite fun. Marenil will at times find Eodwine to be quite ready to do as he suggests, and at other times quite stubborn.

There should be out buildings (better than hovels) made on the grounds as the number of retainers increases. Something new I've learned from my reading is that in a mead hall, benches were fixed, and bedding was stored underneath them in closed compartments; each warrior had his own assigned bench, and slept in the mead hall during the night. There's your barracks.

There should also be a proper ladies' bower (Especially in a Mead Hall: if you go by Beowulf the hall is a gathering place mainly for men, and the ladies congregate elsewhere after seeing to their men).

Quite right. But where?

I still have more to reply to from your post, Jenny, as time allows....