Vogelfrei

Vogelfrei (Hendalarskisch: Fógelfré) is a Gothic cultural and legal concept most notable for its role in the judicial system of Hendalarsk. Although it literally means “free as a bird”, the term in fact refers to a variety of punishments which entail some form of civil death. In Hendalarsk, this traditionally meant that a person declared fógelfré would be condemned either to outlawry or to enslavement, with the latter becoming more common with the expansion of the Hendalarskara state during the early modern period. The punishment, always notorious, became particularly widespread during the Hendalarskara Civil War, and was dramatically scaled back in its aftermath; some groups today campaign for its abolition even in its more moderated form.

History

Origins and Early History

As fógelfré is an ancient Gothic customary tradition which long predates the written record, it is impossible to date its origin with any firm specificity. Some archaeologists have seen evidence of the tradition in burials from the first century AD which feature marks of disgrace, such as bodies interred lying on their front, facing into the underworld, rather than on their side or their back. It was clearly well-established by the seventh century AD, when Agnauts of the Agarii specifically outlawed the practice at the urging of the Christian missionaries in his court. Agnauts’ own death, when he was declared fógelfré and then hunted down on horseback by his own mutinous nobles, is ample demonstration of the custom’s importance in pre- and peri-Christian Hendalarsk.

The leaders of Hendalarsk’s second, more enduring Christianisation were more circumspect about abolishing old customs altogether, and fógelfré was a beneficiary of this increased willingness to accommodate syncretism. The Hendalarskara monk Stefan von Gólenwirt (Stephanus Golenvirtus), writing in the tenth century AD, provided a Christian justification for the practice. In his account, fógelfré was preferable to a traditional execution because, in commending the fate of the accused to the wider public and God’s will, it offered greater scope for divine (and human) mercy, which Stefan held to be the greatest of all virtues.