Real Fairies

Here's a new little conversation that Mr E shared with me recently about the structure of his elven society. Most of the recorded conversation was lost unfortunately so we only have this little bit that was saved. 

On the face of it, the elven society seems to be structured in a way that is similar to ours.  However, in the lost part of the conversation, I remember him telling me that, as a society, his people have more serenity and live in more harmony with nature and each other than we seem to in our society.  The arts in all forms also play a big part in their world and they view it as an expression of the Goddess, adding ornamentation to almost everything in her honor. They also live and breathe the magic that surrounds them and he is going to talk about that more later.

Well, anyway, the conversation is below – we pick it up as he is discussing the different levels of his society:

NL: Ok, earlier we were talking about how your society was structured and you were talking about those who are on the lowest levels or those who have the least opportunities in life.  Who would be in that group?

Mr E:  Your basic unskilled worker would be those with the least opportunities.  These would be those who till the fields, muck the stalls, work the harvest and so on.

NL:  Is there any opportunity for them to move up in society then?

Mr E:  Yes there is.  Just because he was born a servant, in a servant family, does not mean he cannot become a statesman. If he does the right things and puts himself in the right position, and has the desire to be a statesman, he can do it.  He's not stuck here because he was born in this family, it's not a caste system.

NL:  I'm guessing that this would be true for both the males and females in your society, right?

Mr E: Of course.

NL: So how would someone go about moving up in society then?

Mr E: He would have to go for education.

NL:  Well how would he pay for that?  Are there benefactors?

Mr E:  Yes, you could go to somebody who has more money than you do and they'll decide to take you under their wing because of your desire to be this. They would ask for some benefit in return after you become educated where you would give them free service.

NL: Is it an apprenticeship of sorts?

Mr E:  Not exactly…

NL: So, it's a situation where you owe after you are educated and you have become what you wanted to be?

Mr E: Right, exactly.  If you are giving this person an opportunity,they have to pay you back in one way or another.

NL: So, you make an agreement ahead of time…

Mr E: If you are going to be teaching them or giving them the opportunity to get the education that is necessary, then they will, in return, give you their services for free.  It's all written down.

NL:  I see, that sounds very fair and a wonderful opportunity for those who are willing to do the work.

Mr E:  Yes it is.

NL: All right then moving on…who comes after the unskilled worker?

Mr E:  Next would come the skilled workers and the craftspeople which can range in levels from high to low such as  shoemakers, bakers, smiths, jewelers, furniture makers, and the higher artists.

After that would be the highly trained people such as healers and those of the wizarding professions (those who work with elements and magic for physical or metaphysical purposes) as well as those who work with the laws.

NL: Sounds a lot like our society–except for the magical people of course!

Mr E: It is similar in structure.

NL: Ok, and finally, you have the rulers of your society?

Mr E: Yes, then you have the rulers and those that are policing and protecting the area– starting with the troops and those that are managing them.

NL: I know the rulers are royalty but could the policing/army types come from any place in society?

Mr E:  If they choose, yes, but there are also physical requirements that they would have to meet and they would have to be educated to move up in the ranks.  You wouldn't have an unskilled labor worker be a General, you know what I'm saying?  You want the General to be able to read and write and be able to understand the complexities of war and politics and be aware of what is going on in this world.

NL:  So the answer to the question “What do you do all day” would depend on your place in society and the job you held, right? That is a question someone has asked in the forum and it doesn't seem like it has a simple answer.

Mr E: Right, it all depends on who you are and what you are doing.  If you're a baker you are baking all day and caring for your family.  You are shopping for goods…you know, it's pretty much medieval so you are taking care of your horses, carriages, delivery cart or whatever…

NL: You know how you mentioned earlier that your society values art and uses a lot of decoration or ornamentation on their tools, furniture, interiors, just about everything?  Would that be true of bakers as well and would it be similar to what the ruling class does only maybe not as finely done?

Mr E: Yes, it is throughout our society on different levels…

Now bakers are very fascinating. Not only do they make tasty, delicious things which I am very fond of (laughs) but they are artists and you'll know whose loaf of bread that is by looking at it because of how they did it.

Sometimes, when making a big loaf of bread,  they will take a big portion of dough and put it off to the side.  Then, they they roll out  smaller balls of dough which they braid together in their own special, intricate design and they place it on top of the big ball of dough and push it in there.  When it comes out, it is this beautiful loaf of bread with these wonderful, braided designs and you'll know exactly which baker this loaf comes from because it is in their distinctive style.

NL:  That's great, we need more of that in our world.

Mr E:  Yes, I think you do.

Thats interesting about the bread. I have Norweigen cookbook that has a  yeast oatmeal and rye bread that I base my own recipie on.

The shaping of the loaf was similar to what Mr. E just described.  If I remember correctly it was served at  Christmas..  It was also coated with egg to give it a sheen. The embelishments have to be covered with foil to prevent burning.  I don't make fancy looking bread very often but all the bread in this house is made from scratch and no bread machine either store stuff isn't worth it.

.. I hope the elves don't do Lutefisk  :::: shudder::::::: thats another Norweigen Christmas …. urrr special  If you don't know about that one its Codfish soaked in lye rinsed then baked and eaten. Why someone would take a perfectly good Cod and put it in lye and think that was good to eat I can't imagine.  

I loved the part about the baker. We definitely need a bit more creativity in our bread here. I've always wanted to try to make intricate designs when I bake bread but I am still working on perfecting the perfect french loaf…

Thank you Mr. E for explaining some things about your society. It is quite similar to ours, though I suppose it depends on where a person is from.

That sounds like the kind of place I would love to live at!

When Mr. E mentioned the ornamentation,  that is something that craftsmen, bakers, and tradesmen did with everything that was made in the earlier part of our century-    They always put a touch of design in what they did.

If you look at old homes, you can see a taste of that in the old architecture.

Now things are mass produced, and utilitarian only-    No form- just function.    We really do need even those little touches like that brought back again.

Their system is REALLY good! I wish Our world was like that! But I'm not sure, if humans would give back what They took. *rolling eyes* 

Thank You, Natalie, Susanne and Mr E. for that.  

That world isn't so different, so i was wondering if their world is so similar, can fae be overweight?