Support and conflict of kinsmen: A response to Hekala and Buell

Abstract

Hekala and Buell, in their first response, argued that using data from more than one era is a grave error. They no longer raise this issue, apparently recognizing that sociobiological principles, if true, should operate across cultures and eras. They examine the conflicts described in Hen-Thorir's saga and conclude that kinship had no influence in individuals' involvements in the conflict described in this saga, and generalize to sagas in general. Hen-Thorir's saga is a very short minor saga. Another short saga is described herein and yields contradictory results. More sagas might well have been examined, and if analysis was limited to one saga, the saga chosen should have been much longer. It would have been appropriate to have examined the Orkneyinga saga as one of those that formed the content of the original paper. Issues having to do with the accuracy of those English-language versions of the sagas available to most readers are discussed.