Laurel,

I did not stat that this unfree class was bound to the land, I was
rather giving different meanings to what a bondi could be in any
context.

You stated:

>They held many rights under the law in
> comparison to the thralls. They could bear witness,
> produce verdicts, vote on public matters, attend
> religious ceremonies, and make and bear weapons

They were not then totally free, but constrained, bonded. It seems
that they were bounded under social norms and thus were bonded to a
higher ruling class. Laurel, if your supposition is correct then,
when a translator reads bondi in a ON text, as Sarah did, you would
translate it as bondsmen or bondwomen, as the case may be. Not
farmer as seemingly all translator normally do. Again, this is
probably a semantic correlation of functionality so the reader can
get the drift. But the translator could get it wrong. As you
mentioned, if you read a bondi going viking, well you would not want
to translate it as a farmer going viking, but a bondsmen going
viking. This then affirms a more literal translation method over a
translation method less conservative and more liberal where the
translator gives his or her own "take" on the story.











--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, Laurel Bradshaw <llawryf@...>
wrote:

>
> --- Sarah Bowen <sarahbowen@...> wrote:
> > I would be more
> > than happy with your version "Thorsteins good serf"
> > - just wish I'd thought of it myself!
>
> Dirk wrote:
> > bondi is common in ON as being translated as
> > "farmer" because that
> > is what a bondi normally did. Farm. But,
> > literally, bondi would
> > translate to bond, to be bound to and thus is not
> > totally free. Now
> > a bondi may be bonded to a land, to society via
> > social norms, i.e.
> > class restrictions, or to a person, as in fuedal
> > relations.
>
> The bondi were not feudal serfs. Serfs belonged to the
> land and whoever owned it. Bondi were "bound" only in
> the sense that they gave allegience to a greater
> chieftain, and did not possess hereditary rights to
> their land. The bondi often participated in sea-faring
> expeditions, hunts, and raids in order to supplement
> their wealth. They held many rights under the law in
> comparison to the thralls. They could bear witness,
> produce verdicts, vote on public matters, attend
> religious ceremonies, and make and bear weapons.
>
> Laurel
>
> =====
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> If you wish to learn the highest truths, begin with the alphabet.
> -- Japanese Proverb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo