this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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This isn't strange; 'sacrificial kings' have existed in many cultures. To quote Wikipedia, 'The king might be designated to suffer and atone for his people, meaning that the sacral king could be the pre-ordained victim in a human sacrifice, either killed at the end of his term in the position, or sacrificed in a time of crisis (e.g. the Blót of Domalde).'
It certainly has a basis in real-world history, I simply feel it is underutilized in fantasy worlds, especially for a society that is deemed civilized, as these rituals are typically used by societies which are depicted as "barbaric." In this case, the country that uses it is the richest one in the region, and has very distinguished high, middle, and lower classes like in 1700's/1800's Europe. Not a society typically associated with those kind of rituals, which made it extra interesting to me.
Ah, I see. I've actually read a rather sarcastic take on this idea in one of the Discworld novels, where the people of Fourecks (fantasy Australia) elect a Prime Minister and then directly put him in jail, since they'll have to eventually send him there anyway.