Companionship in Torvaldsland

Free Women live with their fathers on their farms until a suitor takes them in companionship
There were various jarls in Torvaldsland who had daughters, but these, generally, were ignorant, primitive women. Moreover, no one jarl held great power in Torvaldsland. It was not uncommon for the daughter of a jarl in that bleak place, upon the arrival of a suitor, to be called in from the pastures, where she would be tending her father's verr.
Hunters

If the father is killed, her welfare is seen to by his male heir(s), her brother(s)
The stake in this challenge was the young man's sister, a comely, blond lass of fourteen, with braided hair. She was dressed in the full regalia of a free woman of the north. The clothes were not rich, but they were clean, and her best. She wore two brooches; and black shoes. The knife had been removed from the sheath at her belt; she stood straight, but her head was down, her eyes closed; about her neck, knotted, was a rope, it fastened to a stake in the ground near the dueling square. She was not otherwise secured.
...
"Where is the boy's father?" I asked one who stood next to me.
"He was slain in an avalanche," said the man.
I gathered then that the boy was then owner of the farm. He had become, then, the head of his household. It was, accordingly, up to him to defend as best he could, against such a challenge.
Marauders

If her father is killed in a duel, by law the winner gains her as part of his prize
These duels, particularly of the formal variety, are sometimes used disreputably for gain by unscrupulous swordsmen. A man, incredibly enough, may be challenged risks his life among the hazel wands; he may be slain; then, too, of course, the stake, the farm, the companion, the daughter, is surrendered by law to the challenger. The motivation of this custom, I gather, is to enable strong, powerful men to obtain land and attractive women; and to encourage those who possess such to keep themselves in fighting condition. All in all I did not much approve of the custom. Commonly, of course, the formal duel is used for more reputable purposes, such as settling grievances over boundaries, or permitting an opportunity where, in a case of insult, satisfaction might be obtained.
Marauders

Whether she would remain free in that instance is dependent upon the man who wins.
Some men of Torvaldsland do not like to see Free Women of Torvaldsland enslaved
"I do not care much for the making women of Torvaldsland bond," said Ivar. "It seems improper," he whispered to me. "They are of Torvaldsland!"
Marauders

Other men of Torvaldsland feel differently
"Why do you challenge a baby?" asked Ivar Forkbeard.
Bjarni looked upon him, not pleasantly. "I want the girl for Thorstein Camp," he said. "I have no quarrel with children."
"Will she be branded there, and collared?" asked Ivar.
"Thorstein Camp has no need for free women."
"She is of Torvaldsland," said Ivar.
"She can be taught to squirm and carry mead as well as any other wench," said Bjarni.
Marauders

A dowry is expected in the companionship of Torvaldsland Free Women
Bjarni of Thorstein Camp went to the boy whom he had challenged. From his wallet he took forth three tarn disks of silver and placed them, one after the other, in the boy's hand. "I am sorry, Hrolf of the Inlet of Green Cliffs," he said, "for having bothered you."
Then Bjarni came to me and put out his hand. We shook hands. "There is fee for you in Thorstein Camp," said he, "should you care to share our kettles and our girls."
"My thanks," said I. "Bjarni of Thorstein Camp." Then he, with his shield bearer, left the leather of the square of hazel wands.
"These I give to you, Champion," said the boy, trying to push into my hands the three tarn disks of silver.
"Save them." Said I, "for your sister's dowry in her companionship."
"With what then," asked he, "have you been paid?"
"With sport," I said.
"My thanks, Fighter," said the girl.
"My thanks, too, Champion," said the boy who held her.
Marauders

The Free Womans hair is worn dressed, high, wrapped about a comb (as opposed to hanging in braids as a maiden girls hair) to indicate she stands in companionship
her hair was worn high, wrapped about a comb, matching the brooches, of the horn of kailiauk; the fact that her hair was worn dressed indicated that she stood in companionship;
Marauders

The Free Woman moves to her companions farm, making the hall *her* hall, a place where she wields much power.
SEE Forkbeards Hall and Svein Blue Tooths Hall for descriptions of the halls & longhouses on Torvaldsland farms

The free woman keeps the keys to the doors and chests in her hall
The free woman was a tall woman, large.
...
at her belt, too, hung her scissors, and a ring of many keys, indicating that her hall contained many chests or doors;
...
the number of keys, together with the scissors, indicated that she was mistress of a great house.
Marauders

The Free Woman wields much power over her hall
Svein Blue Tooth states he will not let Forkbeard within the doors of his hall, yet Bera, hearing of gems and gold, invites Forkbeard to dine in the hall. Blue Tooth acquiesces to her wishes.
"I frown upon you, and would not let you within the doors of my hall, said Svein Blue Tooth, "because you are the greatest scoundrel and rogue in Torvaldsland!"
...
"May I pay my respects to you this night in your hall?" asked the Forkbeard.
Svein Blue Tooth looked at him, startled. He fingered the heavy tooth, on its chain, which hung about his neck, that tooth of a Hunjer whale, dyed blue.
Bera, his woman, rose to her feet. I could see that her mind was moving with rapidity.
"Come tonight to our hall, Champion," said she.
The Blue Tooth did not gainsay her. The woman of the Jarl had spoken. Free women in the north have much power. The Jarl's Woman, in the Kaissa of the north, is a more powerful piece than the Ubara in the Kaissa of the south. This is not to deny that the Ubara in the south, in fact, exercises as much or more power than her northern counterpart. It is only to recognize that her power in the south is less explicitly acknowledged.
The Forkbeard looked to Svein Blue Tooth. Svein fingered the tooth on its chain.
"Yes," said he, "come tonight to my hall-Champion."
Marauders

The high seat in the hall, however, is the place of the Jarl and on occasion honored men
(SEE Svein Blue Tooths Hall for a description of the high seat & table)
The Jarls woman is seated beside the high seat, on one of the benches located beside the high seat
The Blue Tooth, I noted, did not look too pleased at the Forkbeard's popularity with his men. Near him, beside the high seat, sat his woman, Bera, her hair worn high on her head, in a kirtle of yellow wool with scarlet cape of the fur of the red sea sleen, and, about her neck, necklaces of gold.
Marauders

Although she is the lone Free Woman and the Jarl may have hundreds or a thousand men in his hall, the Jarls companion is given great respect.
The men prefer the bond-maids to serve naked, but the slaves remain fully clothed in her presence.
His men however, tend to be anxious for her to retire to her room so they may take their pleasure with the slaves
...female thralls, bond-maids, served the tables. The girls, though collared in the manner of Torvaldsland, and serving men, were fully clothed. Their kirtles of white wool, smudged and stained with grease, fell to their ankles; they hurried about; they were barefoot; their arms, too, were bare; their hair was tied with strings behind their heads, to keep it free from sparks; their faces were, on the whole, dirty, smudged with dirt and grease; they were worked hard; Bera, I noted, kept much of an eye upon them; one girl, seized by a warrior, her waist held, his other hand sliding upward from her ankle beneath the single garment permitted her, the long, stained woolen kirtle, making her cry out with pleasure, dared to thrust her lips eagerly, furtively, to his; but she was seen by Bera; orders were given; by male thralls she was bound and, weeping, thrust to the kitchen, there to be stripped and beaten;
I presumed that if Bera were not present the feast might have taken a different turn; her frigid, cold presence was, doubtless, not much welcomed by the men. But she was the woman of Svein Blue Tooth.
I supposed, in time, normally, she would retire, doubtless taking Svein Blue Tooth with her. It would be then that the men might thrust back the tables and hand the bond-maids about. No Jarl I knew can hold men in his hall unless there are ample women for them. I felt sorry for Svein Blue Tooth. This night, however, it seemed Bera had no intention of retiring early. I suspected this might have accounted somewhat for the ugliness of the men with the entertainers, not that the men of Torvaldsland, under any circumstances, constitute an easily pleased audience. Generally only Kaissa and the songs of skalds can hold their attention for long hours, that and stories told at the tables.

Marauders

In times of war for Torvaldsland, her companion will be called to fight, leaving her alone - or perhaps with her children if there are any - on the farm.
The farms of Torvaldsland are scattered and isolated, there are no "neighbors" to offer assistance. If there were, they too would be free women in their own halls left on their own by their companions as well
When the war arrow is carried, of course, all free men are to respond; in such a case the farm may suffer, and his companion and children know great hardship; in leaving his family, the farmer, weapons upon his shoulder, speaks simply to them. "The war arrow has been carried to my house," he tells them.
Marauders

Bera, enslaved by Kur, is not freed to return to companionship by Svein Blue Tooth, but instead kept slave among his bond-maids in his hall
Mead was replenished in the drinking horn by a dark-haired bond-maid, who filled it, head down, shyly, not looking at me. She was the only one in the hall who was not stripped, though, to be sure, her kirtle, by order of her master, was high on her hips, and, over the shoulders, was split to the belly. Like any other wench, on her neck, riveted, was a simple collar of black iron. She had worn a Kur collar before, and, with hundreds of others, had been rescued from the pens. The fixing of the Kur collar, it had been decided by Svein Blue Tooth, was equivalent to the fixing of the metal collar and, in itself, was sufficient to reduce the subject to slavery, which condition deprives the subject of legal status, and rights attached thereto, such as the right to stand in companionship. Accordingly, to her astonishment, Bera, who had been the companion of Svein Blue Tooth, discovered suddenly that she was only one wench among others. From a line, as part of his spoils, the Blue Tooth picked her out. She had displeased him mightily in recent years. Yet was the Blue Tooth fond of the arrogant wench. It was not until he had switched her, like any other girl, that she understood that their relationship had under-gone a transformation, and that she was, truly, precisely what she seemed to be, now his bond-maid. No longer would her dour presence deprive his feasts of joy. No longer would she, in her free woman's scorn, shower contempt on bond-maids, trying to make them ashamed of their beauty. She, too, now, was no more than they. She now had new tasks to which to address herself, cooking, and churning and carrying water; the improvement of her own carriage, and beauty and attractiveness; and the giving of inordinate pleasure in the furs to her master, Svein Blue Tooth, Jarl of Torvaldsland; if she did not do so, well she knew, as an imbonded wench, that others would; it was not, indeed, until her reduction to slavery that she realized, for the first time, how fine a male, how attractive and how powerful, was Svein Blue Tooth, whom she had for years taken for granted; seeing him objectively for the first time, from the perspective of a slave girl, who is nothing herself, and comparing him with other free men, she realized suddenly how mighty how splendid and magnificent he truly was. She set herself diligently to please him, in service and in pleasure, and, if he would permit it, in love. Bera went to the next man, to fill his cup with mead, from the heavy, hot tankard, gripped with cloth, which she carried. She was sweating. She was barefoot. The bond-maid was happy.
Marauders