The Clan as a Model for Social Reintegration

David Griffiths Out of the many grievances that those with Traditionalist tendencies cite regarding the modern world, there is one factor that lies at the heart of contemporary societys sickness more than any other. This factor is that of social atomism. This is the phenomena that has played a major role in the separation of man from his core essence, feeding him with the delusion that his best interests lie in freedom from culture, tradition, community and spiritual expression. This is the rot that has made modern man rich pickings for the directive forces of the modern world - corporate business, the mass-media, organised criminals and quasi-dictatorial, soft totalitarian governments - to exploit and feed upon. According to the sociologist Mark Granovetter, the economist perceives the modern atomised individual as being either a rootless thrall mindlessly pursuing his hedonistic whims, or as a gullible automaton who pursues every passing social trend and developed personal habit without question.i I find it hard to disagree with this summary of modern man. Being atomised has made him a stupid and impressionable creature that thinks, wrongly, that he has complete autonomy over his thoughts and actions. Despite his belief in his will and his personal liberty, for such a man these things are nothing more than illusions. In his state of unwitting servitude he is completely at the whim of the aforementioned forces that drive the world. The context in which the atomised individual has become the common model of being in the current age is a culture that has taken the form of what Ferdinand Tnnies termed the Gesselschaftii the civic, urbanised society structured on arbitrary will, impersonality, overstimulation and materialistic, goal-orientated needs; the manifestation of the Splenglerian winter of society that closely precedes the exit of a civilisation from its active place on the stage of history. The individual forged in the Gesselschaft, being the product of an industrialised, urbanised and economically driven society is entrenched with the fake values of consumerism, instant gratification, celebrity and multimedia marketing. Yet he is hardly completely to blame for the state he finds himself in. He is nothing but the unthinking end-product of a society that is primed to produce such beings. He is the natural born consumer who, on not questioning or desiring to escape from his predicament, stays bound to the superficial, arch-materialist reality that spawned him. Yet despite his blamelessness for the environment in which he was created, the escape route from this sorry existence is entirely within his own hands. To Tnnies, the antithesis and precursor to the state of Gesselschaft was that of the Gemeinschaft the community of the essential will based on the level of the family or clan and thus built on the virtues of personal relationships, loyalty, simplicity and common interest. By consciously implementing the model of a simplified, clannish lifestyle in whatever ways he can, the potential exists for modern man to reverse the malaise that has stricken his soul. By studying and emulating the principles, traditions and mores of his ancient progenitors the man standing in sight of the end of the current cycle of Western Civilisation can grant himself the unique position of the reintegrated being who escapes the abyss into which the world around him slips. By searching for and emulating genuine examples of the clannish Gemeinschaft in ones own life I believe the fight against the destructive effects of the Gesselschaft becomes a less daunting challenge.

The recreation of clan relationships is not a simple matter in the context of the modern world. The time of the natural existence of such things has long since passed and makes any attempt to attain such a lifestyle a project that can never entirely escape the times in which we live. No matter how successful one may become in the creation of a lifestyle that is altogether more holistic, natural and resonant with our core cultural roots, there will always be some element of our beings, be it our personal histories, our physical bodies, or our means of subsistence, that will be forever imprisoned in the time in which we live. But this should not be seen as a manacle that makes an attempt to reintegrate ourselves with the spirit of our ancestral cultures seem ignoble or wasteful to us. It is better to make such efforts real, if incomplete, than to continue to be wholly immersed in a raging swell of disconnection and emptiness. The first question it is necessary to ask oneself when it comes to recreating the essence of a clan structure is, naturally, of whom does the clan consist? The ancient clan structure consisted of kinsmen. The ancient notion of kinship is one that many would struggle to comprehend the reality of in our current age. The notion of kinship suggests ties to an extended family that went beyond the modern understanding of familial relationships. In essence, kinship was brotherhood, though the connections were not necessarily biological, as the kin comprised of those with whom there was a close emotional bond that was inclusive of, but not restricted to, ones blood relatives. The Anglo-Saxon derivative cyn is defined as meaning family, race, kind, nature, and such things are good bases for the modern equivalent of the clan to be constructed upon. So, the first factor in the formation of a clannish social structure is reliant upon simply recognising those of ones own kind with whom a strong and close personal relationship or resonance of purpose has been forged. Yet there is more to the creation of the clan than kinship alone. Despite being a good place to start, in isolation this is still too loose a foundation for the contemporary clan to be built upon. Adding more substance to the idea of kinship is the concept of frith. Frith lies at the heart of the clan. It is the state of being from which the bond of peace at the root of ones deep friendship for ones kin or love of ones family emanates. According to Vilhelm Grnbech in his study of ancient Teutonic Culture, frith constitutes what we call the base of the soul iii. He continues
It is not a mighty feeling among other feelings in these people, but the very core of the soul, that gives birth to all thoughts and feelings, and provides them with the energy of life or it is that centre in the self where thoughts and feelings receive the stamp of their humanity, and are inspired with will and direction. It answers to what we in ourselves call the human.

Frith was the cohesive principle that held the ancient society together. It was not only the bind of interpersonal relationships and marriage but also that which held together the principles of freedom, law, vengeance and courage based on the bonds of kinship and the link between men and the gods. The outlaw, or any man castigated from society, was a man without frith. To the ancient Teutonic clans, the man without frith was a niingiv; a wolf-manv stripped of the very core components of humanity and left as a soulless thrall or wild beast doomed to destruction, like Grendel, far from the warmth of the mead hall, or like the young fir tree that dies, standing alone sheltered by neither bark nor needle in the field.vi

The essential core of humanity found in the concept of frith is one that is built on the vital connections between man and his kin, his tradition, his culture, his homeland and his gods. Frith is also strongly entwined with the concept of love and freedom. Etymologically, frith, love and free all stem from the Proto Indo European word *prijos, meaning dear, beloved, of which one variant was *pritu, peace, which eventually became the Old Norse friu and the English frith. The Proto Germanic adaptation of *prijos was *frijaz, free, which was a linguistic and conceptual extension of the term beloved. To be a kinsman, one had to be a free man (that is, not a thrall or an outlaw), and to be a kinsman made one beloved to other kinsmen. Other derivatives of *prijos pertinent to the understanding of frith are Old English freond - the precursor of the modern English friend, the Old English freogan - meaning to love, favour and the goddess Frigg, who, with a name that also derives from *prijos and *frijaz and as a goddess of love and domestic relationships, seems an apt representative for the concept of frith. On noting how the atomised individual, the thrall, is essentially a man without frith - and therefore without soul and without deep and genuine humanity - the importance of reintegrating with the ways of frith becomes clearer and more appealing. The next question that needs to be asked with regards to the rebirth of the ways of the clan relates to how one approaches the establishment of relationships and communities in which frith is the underlying principle. By studying the basic structure and functions of the clan, which are expressions of the essence of frith, we may be able to gain some ideas and understandings that are conducive to the construction of such means of living. In the clannish community we see the truest expression of the concept of fraternity. This kinship, rooted in frith, has been emulated as the model for fraternal societies in Western Society ever since. In the Gemeinschaft, the principle of obligation was perhaps the most vital manifestation of this brotherhood. The clansmans innate sense of place amongst and duty towards his fellows made the reciprocal relationships on which such communities were based a matter of natural fact; quite unlike the pecuniary and self-centred motivations that polarise man against folkspiritedness in todays society. Although the root of such duty and obligation lay in frith, the state from which frith emanated was the initial kinship found in a society based upon universal commonality and connectedness rather than imposed diversity and separation. Ones kinsmen, being of like nature, blood and creed, were ones natural, rather than imposed, peers. And thus, like a family, one found the deepest bonds of trust and respect directed towards those that were their brothers in blood and in essence. Being based in such values, the clan was a true body of equals. Grnbech comments that this natural equality led to there being no absolutely dominant power within Teutonic clans. Despite there being a leader of the tribe or clan, there was no one individual who held complete power over his peers. Rather than being based on will and dominance, the fabric of clan society was held together by acts of reciprocation. Stephen Pollington remarks that the practice of gift-giving, as clearly evidenced in Beowulf, acts as an exemplar model of the state of the reciprocal structure in Germanic culture. He states that the giving of gifts [cements] the bonds of the free classes vii. Yet such exchanges were entirely pragmatic in nature, for when any man gave a gift he expected a return, a counter-giftviii, with the favours of higher ranking kinsmen, for instance,

being returned by the service of lower ranked kinsmen. The reciprocal nature of bonds between kinsmen went much further than the giving of gifts. The obligation of frith gave rise to the codes of hospitality, law and punishment that bound kinsmen together. The function of hospitality was to extend the essence of gift-giving amongst kinsmen beyond the clan itself and onto its guests, thus preserving the honour of the clan. Hospitality was the measured mark of the nobility and generosity of the king or chieftain, which were values by which his wealth, reputation and power were judged. It is professed as a vital element throughout ancient texts, as seen in the Hvaml:
Hail the givers! A guest has come where shall he sit? Hard pressed is he, who tests his luck by the fire. Fire is needful for those who arrive with cold knees. Food and clothing is needful to men who have fared over the fells. Water is needful, for he who comes for a meal, drying and friendly words as well, and, if he can get them, kindness, good words, ix and welcome again.

As far as the keeping of law was concerned, frith and kinship acted as a bond that gelled society together in a lawful manner. The place of frith in law, as in personal relationships, was to act as a principle that maintained peace and promoted co-operation. The development of frith guilds in England in the sixth and seventh centuries cemented the unofficial bonds of kinship into a coded model that were later reflected in the Dooms of Ine and Alfred. In a culture in which societal inclusion and interaction were vital to the survival and prosperity of both the individual and the clan, the ultimate level of punishment to those who abused the trust, loyalty and reciprocation that held such a society together was the withdrawal of the benefits of that community from them. In general, offences were punishable in the form of a weregild or man-price payable to the victim of a crime, or in the case of murder, his family, ensuring that the criminal would not be the only one to suffer from his anti-social behaviour. Because of this, the offenders direct kin were often hit hard by such fines, and would often ostracise the offender themselves because of the dishonour and hardship that his actions had brought upon them. If the cost of a mans weregild was too expensive, or if it was refused, those doomed to pay it were cast out of the clan and became outlaws. In the more extreme cases of bot-less crimes, which included the murdering of someone as they lay defenceless, were considered to be enough of a violation of the peace for the payment of blood-money to be held as an inadequate punishment, and so led to the direct casting out of the offender which was essentially a death sentence. Whatever the circumstances of one becoming outcast, being permanently ostracised from the clan was a catastrophic event for the individual. By understanding the concept of the niing as a wolf-man, a doomed beast of a wretch without a soul or humanity, we can understand how the

withdrawal of communal bonds greatly affected the life of the outlaw. In Viking society not only did the outlaw lose the privileges of the freeman, but he also forfeited his right to any kind of protection or aid from the law. After being cast out of the settlement he became fair game to anyone who wished to take his life, as his death would no longer be held as punishable or unjust by law. Thus the vengeance of the wronged parties could come into play as factors of the personal distribution of justice. Laws that encourage the fear of dismemberment from the body of the clan and thus the loss of frith, freedom and kinship would have served the simultaneous purpose of acting as a means of collective protection to the members of such a society and also the further reinforcement of ones natural loyalties to those bonds through the fear of ostracisation or the financial ruin of oneself and ones immediate family. Such laws and bonds, although highly pluralistic and community minded in nature, would surely have been conducive to the development of a strong sense of personal responsibility considering what the potential perpetrator held to lose from his illegal actions. Indeed, it is difficult to wholly comprehend the exact strength of those bonds and responsibilities from a modern viewpoint. Such was the complete oneness and vital interconnectedness of the clan that values such as honour, loyalty and courage were stronger matters of emotionality than the fear of death. Grnbech states that in ancient Germanic societies
Humanity itself is dependent on the pulsing in the veins of a frith-honour. Without it, human nature fades away, and in the void there grows a beast nature, which at last takes possession of the whole body. x

Being another example of a man without frith, the man without honour was as contemptible as the robber or murderer, having proved himself as an unworthy recipient of the protective reciprocal ties that bind the clan together. In the Battle of Maldon we can see a famous example of how the loyalty that a kinsman held for his lord and brethren could remain stronger than the fear of death, even beyond his demise and their impending defeat.
Warriors died overcome by wounds; the slain fell to the ground. Oswold and Eadwold all the while, the two brothers, encouraged the warriors, they entreated their dear kinsmen with their words that they should hold out there in this time of need, use their weapons unfailingly. Byrthwold spoke out, raised his shield, he was an old retainer, he shook his ash spear, very boldly he instructed the men: The mind must be tougher, the heart be bolder, resolve shall be greater, as our strength becomes less. Here lies our lord all cut down, a good man in the dust. He who thinks to turn away from this battle play now will always regret it. I am experienced in life; I will not go away, but by the side of my lord,

of such a dear man, I intend to lie.xi

Such are the codes of honour, loyalty and courage displayed by Oswold, Eadwold and especially Byrthwold, that they see it as better to fight to the death next to their fallen lord than to escape the impending defeat with their lives knowing that they had deserted the battlefield in flight. Death is preferable to such dishonour, and those who choose to live will always regret it. The notion of kinship in the modern era, has, like many other sacred social and functional principles, been reduced to a faint shadow of its former self. Being beyond rescue at the macrocosmic level, the formula for resacralising the role of the clan is something which one can only do for oneself, at a personal level, with ones own kith and kin. The social relationships of the ancient clan provide us with good examples of what principles and practices one needs to bear in mind when attempting to establish clannish elements in ones life and relationships. Clearly the family is a very obvious place to start applying the principles of frith and kinship into practice. Essentially though, in keeping with the nature of the clans of yore, there is no need to restrict this to ones blood relatives. In fact to do so, in a time in which blood ties are often both geographically and emotionally separated, is to potentially doom such an idea from the outset. Resonance, rather than blood, is the primary factor when it comes to re-establishing the clan. Persons with whom we resonate with at an ideological level - those who share our preferences, thoughts, joys, culture and beliefs make the best kinsmen. To re-establish the clan one leads by example and holds the sacred values of frith and all that comes with it - reciprocation, honour, trust, loyalty, fraternity, courage and hospitality as the highest of values. One should also communicate their thoughts and perspectives on frith, kinship and the clan with others, especially those whose presence forms the clan, so that the principles of kinship and clanship are made clear and, ideally, reciprocated. The clan of today is less than likely to occupy the same territorial area as they would have in times past, and this is obviously a large obstacle in the path of invoking the actuality of the clan structures of our ancestors. But there is no bar to establishing the spirit of the clan amongst those who one considers their kinsmen. There is also no reason why the modern clan cannot create a symbolic unifying principle, such as a totem, to represent the clan as those of old did. The role of the animal totem was to provide a symbolic representation of the clan or tribe that also served as a vessel for their collective psyche, being the object of their mythology, their religious pract ices and an influential element on the aesthetics of their material culture. The modern age clan can be unified by a totemic symbol that is felt to summarise the motivations and traditions of the clan in a way that is of no less significance now as it was to our ancestors. To fit in with the aesthetic and aims of the group, such a totem could be symbolised in the form of a god-form, a real or perceived common physical or spiritual descendent, an animal form, or even an Egregore; a magical being specifically created as a symbolic representative of the unique purpose and dynamic of the group. What is of essence is that a clan, fraternity or tribe of whatever description, requires some kind of singular, remote, symbolic figurehead that can be instantly recognised as the living principle that summarises the frith and the kinship of the group. This adds authenticity and spiritual dimension to the clan, without which the vital element of sacrality is missing.

This common sense of the sacred is something which is vastly important if one is to accurately use the clan as a model for social reintegration. The study, contemplation and practice of the integral religious traditions of the common ancestors of the clan, as revealed through historical sources, myth and folklore, is a factor of considerable importance. Glenn Alexander Magee states that
The first step towards cancelling modern barbarism and recovering primal openness is to begin with ones own sensus communis. What we must do is immerse ourselves in the sensus communis of our people by internalising their myths and traditions, by practicing their customs and rituals, and, in general, trying to live as much as possible as they did. The chief obstacles to this are the modern ways of thought that have already been imprinted on us. As a first step toward overcoming this obstacle we may ask how we recognise our peoples sensus communis in ourselves. It is through what I shall call the particularity of myth, that we may find a way into the sensus communis.xii

He concludes by stating it is only by immersing ourselves in the ways and traditions of our forefathers that can lead to the kind of openness that makes our entire lives a theatre of memory and thus connects us to the archai, the mysterious primordial truths, that myth communicates to us. So although there are many good societal reasons to reintegrate ourselves with the ways of our ancestors, the thwarting of the niing status associated with social atomism being perhaps the most vital, there are also good - in fact essential - spiritual reasons for doing so. Considering this, it seems irrefutable that mans natural and ideal state of existence is found in that of the Gemeinschaft; the close-knit, traditional, organic community in which our ancestors thrived, and not the Gesselschaft; in which modern man despairs, declines and crumbles. Looking to the traditions and methods of the ancient clan or tribe is therefore an important step to take in regaining our core humanity.

Granovetter, Mark. "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness"; American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 91, No. 3. November 1985, pp 481-510. 1985.
ii

Tnnies, Ferdinand, Community and Society. Dover Publications. 1957. Grnbech, Vilhelm, The Culture of the Teutons, Vol. 1, p. __. 19__.

iii

iv

From Old Norse ni hostility, shame, scorn. The niing, according to Jan de Fries in Die geistige Welt der Germanen, was a mythological creature "that only exists to cause harm and bring certain undoing".
v

Grnbech, p.__ According to Rudolf His (Das Strafrecht der Friesen im Mittelalter, 1901) , the niing "must seek shelter alone in the woods just like a wolf." In the context of compensatory payment for crimes and the punishment of outlawry, there is a certain resonance here with the Old Norwegian Rune Poem relating to the F rune Gold causes strife amongst kinsmen, the wolf grows up in the woods.
vi

Hvaml: 50. Version cited throughout Chisholm, James Allen, The Eddas: Keys to the Mystery of the North Pollington, Stephen, The Mead Hall: Feasting in Anglo-Saxon England, p. __. Anglo-Saxon Books. 2003. Ibid

vii

viii

ix

Hvaml: 2-4. Grnbech, p.68

xi

The Battle of Maldon, 302-319. In Treharne, Elaine M., and Wu, Duncan, Old and Middle English Poetry. Blackwell Publishing. 2002.
xii

Magee, Glenn Alexander, The Recovery of Myth and the Sensus Communis, in Philosophy and Culture: Essays in Honour of Donald Phillip Verene, pp163-181, ed. Glenn Alexander Magee. 2002.