[Bergstat] The Oak Crown of Dvimurholt

The University of Normark, based in Konungsheim.
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Tarjei Einhornsson
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Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:13 am

[Bergstat] The Oak Crown of Dvimurholt

Post by Tarjei Einhornsson »

Oak Crown of Dvimurholt


Though the old feudal structure has long since been gone - The Oak Crown of Dvimurholt does still exist. And it has for the last several thousand years. Although unlike most other crowns, it is re-made every year during the first blossoming of Spring, preserved and then worn until the next spring. Though preserved, the leaves will turn brown eventually, usually by the next spring they are brown - signifying winter itself and the death of the previous year. The first Duke of Dvimurholt - Leif Folkvarðr - was the first to bear such a crown, as at the time a traditional one could not be smithied. This resulted in the wreathing of fresh oak leaves to signify his authority over the realm until one such crown could be forged from gold. However, this never came about as he became quite fond of the oak leaf crown, stating that it signified the realm itself, which was replete with oak forests. As such, a traditional crown was not forged and every Duke of Dvimurholt since has worn such a crown.

However, with the fall of feudalism and the establishment of The Nordic Union, this tradition would seemingly be all but lost, but it hasn't been and the Colonel-Governors of Bergstat have adopted the tradition as well. In particular, Colonel-Governor Ulrik Eiksgård, Colonel-Governor of Bergstat from 321 CE to 336 CE, began a tradition of having a crown made to signify the coming of fall as well, using a crown of oak leaves that have turned in their color. His successor, Colonel-Governor Lars Henriksson followed in this tradition as well. This has been applauded by the people of Bergstat, who have enjoyed the keeping of such ancient traditions. And, with the campaigns to reclaim the ancestral home-lands (as of this writing), such traditions are viewed more and more favorably by the Norse population at large.

There is also a particular ceremony of which to dispose of worn crowns - as offerings to Þórr. The worn crown of brown leaves is burned at an altar of sufficient divinity towards the god Þórr as a request to ensure peace in the realm and strength in the leader and his people. The ashes are then scattered to the forest by the un-crowned Governor (or in the case of the old feudal lords - the Duke). Failure to burn the old crown in sacrifice has been associated with bad luck and in one particular case it did have an air of truth to it. In 1493 BCE, the then Duke of Dvimurholt - Gímmli Folkvarðr (a direct descendant of Leif Folkvarðr) - failed to offer sacrifice, resulting in what many believed at the time was a curse from Þórr himself. All but one of his sons died not four months following the coming of the Spring, by which time Gímmli had already acquired a new crown but failed to burn the old. He had the old one dipped in bronze, failing to make that crucial sacrifice. Of the one son that did not die, he was forced into Dukeship early - at the tender age of fourteen - following the death of his father. His son - Ymir Folkvarðr - also had children but all but one would die as well, not soon after birth. It was later found that they were suffering from particularly virulent Tuberculosis, and though Ymir had evaded symptoms for years (attributed to one of the earliest cases of OCD in Normark - he bathed regularly every hour on the hour), but eventually he did succumb to and transmit the disease at the still-young age of only 17 - leaving the Duchy to a Royal Regent for nearly two-decades until it was found that his son would survive. Wishing to break the curse, however, the Royal Regent - Bómbúr Olegsson - had the old bronzed crown destroyed. The "curse" did not return, but that was attributed to the child's relative isolation from his declining father.Since then, the burning of the crown was often forced upon the Duke, though after a point it became only ceremony.

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