Rídh

A rídh is the fír suthr equivalent to a king on the continent of Doma. Unlike the ocntinent, where rule is reserved for men but for a very few noteables, a rídh can be of any gender, and rules over a single island and any of the clans thereon. The position is largely hereditary, though there have been cases of particularly cruel or inept rídh being deposed by a clan vote and a new rídh elected in their place. In such matters, the new rídh is usually still a member of the ruling class (a clan leader, perhaps), though there is the Ballad of Breitha the Tiller's Daughter, which tells of a brave and clever peasant woman who was elected to the position of rídh following the deposition of Madds the Mad. To do this is difficult, and requires sanctioning by the Council of Elders.

Also unlike the continent, the rídh tend to live, work and raid alongside the lower classes. There appears to be only three social strata, the rídh, clan leaders, and everyone else. It is, in contrast with the continent, not a rigid delineation, as a farmer in a field can, by some display of courage and ability, be elevated to clan leader, and even a rídh should the circumstances be right. Some have posited that this relative equity between the folk of the south is the reason poverty, desperation and, indeed, political upheaval of any kind seem to be entirely foreign concepts to the fír suthr.