Angst

16 July 2005
A brief outline of the Fiskdotter Matriarchies

My researches of this unusual clan have proved especially problematic as, until I came across the statement by its Arch-Matriarch, Yedda Fiskdotter, they appear to have left behind them very few written documents, at least that I have been able to unearth. The number of ships at the disposal of the matriarchy at any one time has never been great, 5 or 6 being the most as far as I have been able to ascertain. As males are ineligible to inherit or even to own a matriarchy ship this immediately cuts in half the potential number of ships. In addition, many daughters have chosen to leave the matriarchy to find happiness with a miner or blacksmith in Minoc. It takes dedication and determination for a daughter to become a mistress of a ship.

Finally, the kin-sundering, when the Fretting-led migration left for the Yew Forest to build Leafsta Village and settle there (and that the Matriarchs scornfully call ?the lemming trek?) came close to destroying the Fiskdotter Matriarchy. The clan could ill-afford such a major loss of bloodline bearers. This explains the bitterness of the Matriarchy towards the Leafstans. It took nearly a century and a half before the Fiskdotter Matriarchy recovered from that disaster.

I have been greatly helped in my studies by the Twilight Fellowship on Pacific Shard, especially their writing group, whose work and output are quite awesome. I am especially indebted to its guiding spirit, Sable, for his knowledge of, and devotion to, the world of the Ultimas, and for the help and support given to me by many of its players, especially the bard Rustelle.

A simple geneology of the Matriarchy
Three Fiskdotter families were among the Flight Families, Eli, Nettis and Sila, whose ships bore all the refugees to the safety of Minoc. The Nettis line died out at the Kin-sundering, the Sila line eventually failed. But the Elis line, of which the current Arch-Matriarch is head has resulted in two new lines of daughters who became matriarchs in their own right each producing at least one or two extant mistress lines.

I have tried here to reconstruct in a simple way the geneologies of the arch-matriarch line of the Yeddas and the now extinct Nettis matriarch line. This latter will be of more interest to the Leafstans, especially Agnes Fretting whose mother was a Fiskdotter. I have not yet completed my reconstruction of the newer matriarch line or lines.

Dating starts from the birth of those who were ruling Matriarchs at the time of the last Norsefolk Council - held in Minoc in 267 just prior to the lemming trek (only first female issue is shown, males not shown)

The Nettis Matriarchy (extinct)
Became a victim of the lemming trek, and the line died out.

Nettis Fiskdotter
b 266, d 309

Nettis Fiskdotter was an infant at the kin-sundering when her mother, the Matriarch Nettis I, abdicated and took her on the lemming trek. The abdicated Matriarch's younger sister Silla became Matriarch but produced no daughters.

Nettis Fiskdotter helped settle Leafsta and eventually married Anvel Fretting (great grandson of his namesake, Loosefoot), giving birth to the man who later was widely (but wrongly, it now seems) believed to be Smaed Halfelven?s father in 302 and Agnes Fretting in 309. Nettis, Agnes' mother, died in childbirth.

Historical footnote
It may be worth noting here that Agnes, descending from a Fiskdotter Matriarchy line that became extinct after the lemming trek, must surely have known there would be Fiskdotters in Minoc but she does not appear to have looked for them nor mentioned them in any of her writings. This suggests she may be aware that there was bad blood between her Minoc and Leafsta kin.

There are intriguing implications flowing from the central position of Agnes in this saga. For while Jern Fretting is clearly the bearer of the mayoral line of Leafsta, should that die out and assuming no other claimant is found, Agnes' offspring (Smaed and any children he may have) would assume this nominal titular position. And since Agnes is also the last surviving member of the Nettis Matriarchy, should the arch-matriarchy line fail Smaed and his offspring might become the heirs of both the Leafstan mayors and the Matriarchy tradition. But there are a number of "ifs" built in here that make this hypothetical at this time.