RingoYou know those moments in fiction where a throw away line or minor concept digs its way deep into your soul and becomes a strong facet of how you interact with the world? Like did you see The Town? It was a shitty bank robber movie Ben Affleck made to remind people he was from Boston, kinda like the Wish version of The Departed. It’s ok if you haven’t cause I’m gonna describe the relevant bit, but also if Boston accents are your kink, give it a peep. In it Ben goes to his cousin’s house to get some back up on a minor vengeance quest and says with no segue “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we’re gonna hurt some people.”
His cousin looks at it for a second. Pause. “Whose car we gonna take?”
For the longest time this defined a peak level of friendship to me. It was the true height of homie love, being ready to roll for squad at any moment, no questions asked. That minor moment became a core concept in my view of the world for a decade or so, though not sure it still hits the same for me. Maybe cause I’m just too soft that I don’t know I could do it for anyone.
This ain’t about that though. I just wanted to talk about the concept. This about The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. The Heroes is a stand alone novel in Abercrombie’s First Law Series. It details a battle between a group that very loosely resembles Danish and Germanic tribes and a group that very loosely resembles a high middle age central Europe. Basically vikings vs knights. For Honor but like 9 years before.
The book is one of the best depictions of the chaos of armored combat I’ve read. I can’t speak to the reality of fighting to the death but I am intimately familiar with the hectic confusion of close quarter melee with weapons. I’m also somewhat familiar with the exhaustion of fighting all day in armor. The emotional state that kicks in when the dance begins and the drop after it’s over. Abercrombie nails that and it’s that accuracy that made his concept of Named Men hit me so hard.
In the First Law series Ambercrombie’s Northmen, the vikings, have a warrior society made up of bands of fighters that act as professional soldiers in tribal disputes as well raids. The chieftains raise armies made up of the local farmer and these bands, primarily filled with Named Men. A Named Man is a warrior who has established themselves as a bad dude. They have fought and survived battles and made a contribution probably a number of kills. As such the warriors grant the newly minted fighter a Name
The name one earns may be epic and related to their exploits; maybe the Bloody Nine or Talhoff ThunderHammer. They are also sometimes trolling. One of the main characters of The Heroes is Curden Craw, who earned his name by choking on a chicken bone after a battle. The idea of Named Men and what they earn their names appears to be constant in the series. The Heroes though details the trials of these Named Men holding a hill with a rock structure named, drum roll, the Heroes.
The book tells the story of a boy trying to earn his name. It tells the story of named men striving to earn more respect. It tells the story of a named man believing his own hype. It tells the story of an old named man wondering if a life of battle was worth it when all it earned him was a funny name and some knee pain. In short it tells the story of War Heroes and the illusory glory it brings and why that illusion is so powerful even for those who know its truth.
Everything about this ritual speaks to the alpha dude in me. Gym Bros love nicknames. We love hierarchies based on deeds. I love the binary nature of either you are a bad MF or not. You’ve earned your name or you haven’t. I love that earning that name gets you social capital that fades with your skill but never fully evaporates. I love that earning it doesn’t prevent you from getting shit and that your name itself may be always a small joke at your expense. In many ways it’s just what our sports culture does anyway, just formalized.
There’s downsides of course; Elitism and subjective favoritism being the biggest. Our society strives to be equitable, though usually falls far short. Similarly there is no objective measure of badness and our culture strives to be scientific, measurable, rational…though again, we rarely succeed. I don’t know that this concept has a place today. It may work in certain sub cultures and it seems like many have similar rituals as it is now. However it may exacerbate toxic traits, like so many other traditions that are meant elevate and celebrate accomplishment and become some how less than that.
I believe in it though. I believe in meritocracy. I believe in striving for social incentives. I believe in indulging ones pride. I unfortunately can’t name myself, but I’d like to think in my little circles I’ve earned a name. And maybe I’ll start handing them out as my own personal brand of recognition. The culture may not develop but that doesn’t mean I can’t still buy in. So here’s to Joe Abercrombie’s wild northmen, the war hero culture he gave them, and the culture of Named Men who’s traditions I plan to steal.