Knesetja
Knesetja (translated: knee setting/the act of sitting down on a knee/setting someone on your knee) is the ritual where an Auregelending gets their name and is brought into the kin. It usually takes place not too long after a child is born, waiting only to ensure the good health of mother and child.
The ceremony is planned out in advance, giving time for friends and family to bear witness. The mother holds the child before the father, asking him to recognize the child as his own. If he does, he sits the child down on his knee and gives them a first name first, and then proceeds to give them his own name. The father's name becomes the child's surname with the added suffix of "són" or "dóttir," meaning "son of-" or "daughter of-" respectively. The mother takes the child back and carries them around to greet the witnesses, each of them welcoming the child into the family.
Before a child is "knesatt," it is not only not part of the family, it is barely deemed human. They are not protected by Auregelmir laws. Should a child be born with severe defects or health problems, or born in a harsh year where survival is unlikely, the child could be left deep in the woods to die. Before a knee setting this was considered legally acceptable. After a knee setting this would be murder.
The ritual is not exclusively for the newborn. Adoption, even among adults, is fairly common in Auregelmir. The process is just about the same, though an adult may keep whatever first name they already possess. This was famously made popular after the death of King Ivald Godwynsón who fell during The End. His brother King Eiktýr III Godwynsón "knesatt" Ivald's bastard son Andhriminir and made him heir to the throne.
The ceremony is planned out in advance, giving time for friends and family to bear witness. The mother holds the child before the father, asking him to recognize the child as his own. If he does, he sits the child down on his knee and gives them a first name first, and then proceeds to give them his own name. The father's name becomes the child's surname with the added suffix of "són" or "dóttir," meaning "son of-" or "daughter of-" respectively. The mother takes the child back and carries them around to greet the witnesses, each of them welcoming the child into the family.
Before a child is "knesatt," it is not only not part of the family, it is barely deemed human. They are not protected by Auregelmir laws. Should a child be born with severe defects or health problems, or born in a harsh year where survival is unlikely, the child could be left deep in the woods to die. Before a knee setting this was considered legally acceptable. After a knee setting this would be murder.
The ritual is not exclusively for the newborn. Adoption, even among adults, is fairly common in Auregelmir. The process is just about the same, though an adult may keep whatever first name they already possess. This was famously made popular after the death of King Ivald Godwynsón who fell during The End. His brother King Eiktýr III Godwynsón "knesatt" Ivald's bastard son Andhriminir and made him heir to the throne.
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