Reciprocity - The Gift That Binds
Gifts create obligations; receiving creates duty to give in return.
Celtic society ran on reciprocity. Gifts between equals maintained friendship; gifts from lords to followers created loyalty. To receive was to incur obligation. This web of giving and receiving bound society together in mutual dependence.
The gift creates a bond stronger than blood; receive wisely, for you must give in return.
Reciprocity structured all Celtic social and political relationships.
Irish Law
Written about in
- What Celtic tradition says about envy and comparison
Gifts created obligation, so wealth moved instead of piling up, and a lord's standing came from what he handed out rather than what he held. In a system where hoarding is shameful, the thing you envy is built to come back round.