The Holly, Oak and the North

The Holly and Oak Clans shared a long and involved history. Oak and Holly shared a border which was the River Bras. For generations they had been at war. To stop their extinction, the Hazel came up with a solution of champions who were bound by strict protocols and would decide the order among the six sub-clans. The history and structure of this are discussed on the Calendar, Law and History pages. However, it seriously affects my discussions here and I must say a bit about the politics of it. Many of the Tree Clans were divided into sub-clans, still not at the family level, but comprised of multiple "fine" or families to the fourth cousins. These "fine" (FEEN YA) were marked with family tattoos in the Holly. The three sub-clans were the White Holly, the Black and the Red who occupied distinct territories. They had corresponding kings among the Oak, but the Oak were not divided into sub-clans. However, the Rowan were, merely along geographical lines and the Birch into sub-clans based on which kind of birch they shape, River Birch or Silver Birch. The Silver occupied the North and the Grey Mountains along the Plain of the Horses. The River Birch occupied the lands just north of the Ash in the south and the marshlands where the Willow lived. The Pine were the other Clan who occupied extensive territories in the North other than the clients of the Oak who lived around An Doras.

You will note on this map how the Trader's Road crosses the fords of the Bras River just above Deer Creek where the lands of the White Holly end. This is because the Black and the Red Holly were hostile toward the humans and the White were the patrons of the White Nation of the Setting Moon. The Moon Nation share borders with the Willow to the south and west, however the White Holly were ferocious and the Willow feared them.

The White, Red and Black Holly and Oak were so divided because they followed different calendars and different champions killed different kings. The White Holly Champion (Cuilinn) killed the Black Oak King. The Red Holly Champion killed the White Oak King and the Black Holly Champion killed the White Oak King. At any one time, there were three Oak Kings and three Cuilean. As I said, there is much more about this system on the Calendar and Political pages. I do need to say that a champion of the Holly could not be from the same sub-clan that he was born to (his mother's clan.) This further distanced the Holly from any politics that was family oriented and not international. A Cuilinn was not allowed a mate or children, although no woman ever refused a Cuilinn. He just could not acknowledge a child of any such union.

The Oak were another Clan entirely. They were large and confident in their superiority. They formed large groups all across their territory of mixed families. The usual unit that shared a house was a mother and her dependents. It was not unusual that four generations of women shared a group of houses without males. The men tended to form their own groups and travel about the territory at will. Sometimes they stayed in one compound for a time, but the Oak were very gregarious and it was rare among them that any of them formed life-long bonds of marriage or married at all. Jealousy was uncommon and the women were very happy to have the men off doing "men" things.

The Oak warriors formed brotherhoods among which were complex rituals of status and precedence. Most of them fought with the great spear, or boar spear. They were the only Clan that adorned themselves with metal, bought at great cost from the humans, thus the notorious slave trade. Most Oak males were well over seven feet/two meters tall in adulthood with golden skin and hair and heavy muscle, like the oaks they shaped. They scorned armor of any kind, but were also the only Clan to tan and use leather. Cowhides they bought from the humans, for the aurochs was extinct in Anieth and the bison very rare in the woods. They used deerhide and boar for other clothing. The women, in particular, were fond of doeskin decorated with elaborate shell, metal and glass beads.

The Oak were also unusual in that they lived in permanent settlements around An Doras. Most of their country was oakwood with the Groves of the Ancients being near An Doras. We later learned that Tree shapers did not usually change shape after becoming adults. At the end of their lives in human form, Tree shapers felt the "call to root" and became trees in the groves sacred to each Clan. It was the humans habit of slash and burn to make farms which caused the great wars early in the expansion of the Nine Nations.

Their houses were of sod over a wood frame, in the style of the northern longhouse, with several related family groups in one house. They loved carving, decoration of any kind and were a very hardy people, often scorning fire except for cooking. They kept extended slave communities, and are among the only Clans except the Willow who kept human slaves. Both men and women wore furs, jewelry, and all kinds of leather and linen clothing, richly embroidered and patterned.

The Oak were organized in family groups centered around a female and her children. Most of the males kept their own lodges unless married. Both polygamy and polyandry were common among the Oak as well as same sex relations. Often whole villages were related in very complex ways, for children did not know much about their parentage or their siblings, not even their birth mothers, for fostering and group child raising with different wives was common. The Oak were also happy for women to serve as warriors. Very few Oak males were not warriors; most of the heavy work was done by women or slaves. Oak women tended to be a benign and jolly as their men were a bit brutal and given to practical joking and gaming. The women were placid and friendly, hosting a multitude of client Clans and vistors to An Doras. They were very social, generous and passionate when aroused. Although the men spent most of their time in contests or traveling in packs, they bowed to the women for any social disputes except those of honor among the men.

On this map, you can see the distribution of the Lesser Trees among the Oak at An Doras. The Hazel and Elder and Rowan were what I call "specialty" Clans in that their skills were in high demand and they tended to use those skills in trade. The Rowan were gifted in seeing the future; the Elder were gifted healers, and the Hazel were a clan that specialized in calendar keeping, astronomy, lore and genealogy, rather like the ancient Druids. The Silver Birch were the most friendly toward the humans and nearer to them in size, however they were deeply religious and that inhibited much of their behavior. The Elder, Rowan, Apple, and Hawthorn lived with the Oak, although the children of the women of these Clans were rarely regarded as Oak. It was extremely unusual for a child of mixed heritage to take the tree form of any other than the mother. Children of Oak women were Oak and treated as such.

The Holly could not be more different than the Oak. They were shorter and slighter than the Oak, with bone-white skin and jet black hair that did not turn white until they were of great age. The men did not grow facial hair, but the champions tended to grease their straight black hair into "shocks" or elaborate manes. The warriors were also given to wearing elaborate armor made of nettle linen greased with birch oil. They used a javelin and stone knives and little else in the way of weapons. They shunned jewelry, but wore heavy linen coats embroidered with the "holly" decoration. Their tattoos (both men and women) were marks of their clans only. The exception to this was the Cuilinn mark, wore by the champions and their seconds, a holly leaf tattooed between the brows.

The Holly bred for berserker temperament. For a champion to go into Oak territory and hunt down and kill their king, who was often half again as large as he was, he had to be berserk. After killing the Oak King, he was chased by Oak warriors for several years. The champions alone were forbidden to turn into trees at death. Their blood was spread on the roots of the guardian trees, which were old Holly people who had turned into trees on the banks of the Bras. Because of the berserk mentality, the Holly were ruled by extremely strict codes of conduct that involved years of study, meditation and discipline. Although upright and just, they were unpopular with most of the other Clans, given as they were to short tempers and intolerance of sloppy etiquette, slights of honor, and impulsive behavior. Their one exception was the Rowan, whom they loved and tolerated willingly, even to the point of smiling at these jesters!

When a Holly was made champion, or Cuilinn, he became beyond the law. He could mate with any woman, abuse or kill any man or woman or child, live any where he wanted, but he was not allowed a wife, a child or his own tent. He was also allowed no possessions except his clothing and his weapons, not even a pack for food. It was unheard of for a champion to be denied anything he wished from any of his people, whether the best part of a meal, a woman, or some request. He was elected through a rigorous trial of seven parts and expected, if elected, to be so just, wise and strong, that he would not need to follow a code of conduct, for he was conduct itself.

The Holly mixed their sub-clans through the women. The champions were so desirable, that it was unheard of for any woman to want to turn them down, but all of the men were ready to go to war and honed their skills. Most had other skills which they used for survival in the north. Holly were monogamous, but a woman often went through several partners in her life. It was not unheard of for a woman to have two husbands, but men were not polygamous. Often a man would share his tent with his brother or a friend but join in a woman's tent for meals and social events. Although women were not warriors that guarded the frontier, they were often hunters and explorers and guardians in their own lands, sometimes acting very much like the men with their own tents and a wife and her children in the compound. The Holly were insular and stayed north of the River with the exception of some of the White Holly which were involved with the Veldonaccii. Few of the other Clans ever saw a female Holly and some who had never been to An Doras and the king festivals doubted their existence.

The Holly formed elaborate groups of craftswomen. Often, Rowan, both men and women, were part of these sisterhoods. These organizations were very like guilds, with competitions between guilds for prizes and awards in rituals and festivals as elaborate as those of the Cuilinn elections. Women were competitive, aggressive, and often temperamental. Unlike the men, they did not hold back their feelings unless they were warriors on the path of silence. Their conduct did not allow them free rein of their tempers, yet they were not above physical chastisement and ridicule of their warriors, families or clients. Holly tempers were fast and fiery, but not lasting. Grudges were unheard of even among these violent and competitive people.