Eorling Mead Hall Planning/Discussion Thread

[JennyHallu]

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.

The reason I suggested a separate barracks is because Eodwine opens his doors to any guest, with no way to check up on them or their stories. Marenil thinks Eodwine's own men should have a place of higher honor than random strangers, and doesn't want them to have to store their belongings in the open. Marenil also is new to Rohan, and thinks making your sworn armsmen 'roll on the floor with the dogs' is a bit barbaric, especially when your resources allow for something more. (After all, it was insulting when Grima implied only children did so)

EDIT: But those benches sound great for guests...Marenil was thinking of making cotton screens to mark off areas for each guest (he's very big on privacy...)

Hmm...WWTD?

EDIT AGAIN: And a barracks would provide space to harbor the general laborers Eodwine no doubt needs for construction, besides his artisans. Housing for them would preserve space in the Hall for guests, which seemed important to Eodwine.

Oh, and location for the bower: I thought an apse could be built off the main nave of the Hall, opposite the old Inn wing. I've been looking at plans of pilgrim waystations, usually monasteries, that let any and all visitors sleep in the hall, but had separate quarters for permanent residents. It's the wrong era, but now I've got church design stuck in my head somehow.

I SHOULD GIVE IN AND JUST DOUBLE POST:
By outbuildings I assume you mean small cottages? Ooh...that could be nice, and very simple. No kitchens are needed, just a fireplace for warmth with a chimney that could be shared by two cottages, built side-to-side...and big enough that a woman could have a dutch oven or something if she chose, because every woman should have space to make sweets for her own kids . A single good-sized room with a sturdily floored loft?