Skaldings have a very… Skalding perspective on power and authority, in that they only really respect strength and capability, and if someone doesn’t give them a good reason to obey a law then they generally won’t. Their Jarls are autocratic petty kings who rule until someone else manages to replace them, and their High King is usually a vicious tyrant who managed to strong-arm and bribe the Althinge into electing them to the throne; the folk who lead Skaldings do so because they can, because they have the personal strength, cunning, and ruthlessness to hold the position and have proven they can rule effectively, not because they were born to a particular bloodline or are the lackey of someone else in a position of higher power.
The government of the Jarldom is a riotous mess, in the eyes of many other nations. The High King has to win an election every few years, the Althinge that writes the laws devolves into a literal brawl at least once a month, and the Jarls of the individual Holds are notoriously unwilling to cooperate unless you hold a sword to their throats. Despite all this insanity, or perhaps because of it, the system seems to work for the Skaldings, as it has kept the Jarldom from fracturing since it was founded five centuries ago, and mostly managed to keep the Holds all working together towards their collective advancement and profit (no matter how independent and rebellious the Jarls who make it up might get at times).
The Hákonig (HAH-koh-nig), or “High King,” is the monarch of Iskaldur, though their powers are much more limited than those of the other modern monarchies. The title is gender-neutral; a woman holding the position is called High King just as a man would be. The Hákonig is charged with leading policy initiatives through the Althinge, enforcing the will of that august body upon the entirety of the Jarldom, and leading the nation’s armed forces in wartime. The powers they are given to accomplish all of this are relatively limited in scope, functionally boiling down to a fairly naked threat of armed force if someone breaks the Althinge’s laws and a careful balancing act of bribes and political favors to the Jarls and their representatives to get them to agree on something. The Hákonig’s throne is not a gentle one, and only the most cunning and ruthless politicians have a chance at surviving the job once they’ve won it.
The current Hákonig is Hadrek Ironsails, a venerable and viciously cunning human mage who turned the wealth he earned as a Sverðnar into control over the largest Hold in Fjallaheim, and from there into the crown of the Jarldom. His husband, Agnar Bloodhorn, a towering Firbolg renowned for his formidable skill in combat and commanding warriors, has been by Ironsails’ side for his entire rise to power, and is credited with almost as much of the Hákonig’s success as his razor-sharp political acumen. Ironsails was elected to his second term as High King in 3023, and while some worry about his advanced age, most Skaldings are confident that he’ll be able to handle the tribulations of the new Churning.
The members of the Hákonig’s personal staff are collectively called the Hands of the King. The senior members amongst them are vested with the power of the High King, speaking with their voice and acting on their behalf. They frequently act as commanders of the Jarldom’s armies and fleets, spymasters, diplomats to other nations, and ministers overseeing various parts of the Jarldom’s domestic affairs. The Hands are by definition outside of any Jarl’s authority due to their status as direct representatives of the High King. However, the Hákonigs of the past five centuries have learned through hard lessons that their Hands must be diplomatic in their dealings with the Jarls — it only takes a few cases of the King’s Hands throwing their weight around in the wrong place to turn the Althinge against the monarch, and that rarely ends well for the Hákonig in question.
The Althinge (ahl-THING-guh) is the legislative body of Iskaldur, where representatives from every Hold (or actual Jarls, if they believe that it’s worth the trip and the risk) meet to decide policy for the Jarldom and elect the Hákonig every six years (or more frequently, if the old one dies or is voted off their throne by the Jarls). Each Hold casts a number of votes in the Althinge equal to its population as determined by a casting of Harmonious Chorus Of Order every decade, or whenever the Hold is willing to pay for the ritual to be recast. The largest Holds are political behemoths, and generally set the direction for most of the Althinge’s business, but alliances of smaller Holds can wield a surprisingly large amount of power as well, whenever they have reason to coalesce behind a particular position.
The Hákonig is expected to host the Althinge in a hall within their Hold. This is both a price they must pay for the position and a critical aid in doing their job, as the proximity to their seat of power means they can both rule their Hold and wrangle the Althinge’s membership without having to split their time traveling between the two. The High King has veto power over any motion passed by the Althinge, but must always be wary of abusing this power; if they defy the Althinge too often or too egregiously, the Jarls and their representatives can vote to replace the High King with a 60% vote. The Althinge holds the exclusive power of the purse for the Jarldom — the nation’s founding Jarls were unwilling to hand over the ability to levy taxes to the Hákonig without first having a say in how heavy those taxes were or what they would be used to pay for.
In general, the Althinge is a fractious body, with votes frequently devolving into shouting matches or brawls and a lot of bribery and/or coercion involved in passing its motions. The Hákonig usually plays a key role in getting enough Jarls or their representatives onboard in order to get motions passed; the success that they have in accomplishing this task is often the deciding factor in how they’re remembered after their tenure on the throne is over.
Jarls are the people that most Skaldings think of when they think of politics; they are the petty kings of their Holds, the ones whose strength and cunning keep the Hold’s warriors in line and the people working together to make the Hold prosper. The Jarls and the Holds they rule are the fundamental building blocks of Iskaldur’s political landscape, working together to form political alliances via Holdrings or warring upon one another for economic, political, and sometimes military supremacy.
A Jarl is not given their position as ruler of a Hold; they take it. Whether through bloody force, political deals with other powerful members of the Hold, or some other means of forcing the current holder of the seat to give it up, every Jarl has gained their title by doing whatever it takes to ensure it is theirs. Moreover, every Jarl must then defend their position, building coalitions of loyal retainers and political allies to ensure that no challengers have a good shot at removing them.
Taking a Jarl’s seat requires either eliminating the Jarl themself or convincing enough of the people in a Hold (especially the important ones, such as the higher-ranking Valkhov or Runavejar and the wealthier Jortrken and Vorðrunar) that you’d be better at running the place than the current Jarl. A Jarl whose retainers and political allies lose faith in them is one who is vulnerable, and challengers quickly begin to test the waters to see whether they can successfully convince the important folk of the Hold to side with them. While sheer bloody violence is still a mostly-legal path to power, that method has slowly decreased in frequency over the past two centuries; in modern times most Jarls have taken their positions through cunning political maneuvering, usually backed up by a hefty amount of bribery and some displays of martial capability.
Alliances made between Holds are known as Holdrings, with the alliance symbolized by an exchange of Bindrings between the Jarls. Holdrings are usually formed by coalitions of smaller neighboring Holds who have cause to work together for economic or security reasons. Holdrings can shift dramatically in membership or political stance whenever a new Jarl takes over one of their members, as the alliance frequently must be renegotiated to bring the new leader on board. Holdrings whose Jarls trust one another and have similar opinions on policy choices frequently send a single representative to the Althinge, to cast their votes in unison and give them a stronger political position than they would have if they all went separately.
Advancement in Iskaldur is based on a combination of notoriety, charisma, proven success as a leader, and the ambition to keep climbing whatever ladder of power you’re on. Capable and ambitious leaders who aren’t well-known tend to be overlooked in favor of those who have won glory and renown, while those who fail as often as they succeed tend to lose followers quickly no matter how well-known they are. The trick lies in balancing the risks you take so that you can continually build your reputation while avoiding any failures significant enough that they’ll shake your followers’ faith in you.
Hersirs are the leaders of fighting forces; they frequently start out as leaders of small squads, and then expand the number of fighters under their banner as they win victories and glory for their band. Once a Hersir’s forces grow to a certain size or level of renown, they start to be approached by Jarls and captains of the largest mercenary Helms, who seek to add their band to that leader’s own forces. From there, a Hersir can continue along the path towards higher military command, eventually becoming leader of a Hold’s entire military forces, or even turn their sights on becoming a Jarl themselves.
The paths to becoming a Jarl are as varied as the Skaldings who claim the title. Merchants can buy their way into the role; many fighters and battlemages have successfully challenged their successors to combat for control over a Hold; Valkhovs, Runavejar, and Galdrken have used the judicious application of curses to aid in their campaigns for a Jarl’s seat; some Skalds have been known to win their seat with viciously effective smear campaigns and Flyting contests. Whatever someone’s talents, they must convince enough people in the Hold — and, most especially, the Jarl themselves — that the current ruler is unfit and should be replaced. There is usually no formal vote; enough people of the Hold stepping forward and saying they support the challenger will eventually cause the current Jarl to step down, either out of shame, respect, or fear. This is often quite difficult, as any good Jarl will constantly be shoring up their support amongst the populace and centers of power within their Hold, and shaking that foundation can be a titanic task without some disaster befalling the Jarl or the Hold first. Many Jarls are not conquerors but rather opportunists, sensing weakness in their predecessor and taking advantage to push their own candidacy as hard as they can while the opportunity was there.