The warrior's tail

[Farseer]

Great thread!

So, not only am I a boring Englishman but I have an unflattering hairstyle Never mind, I also wear a scruffy beard and glasses.

Oh, so funny !!!

I also had a ponytail bound with a leather thong in mind for the warrior's tail as I was under the impression that many historical armies made this style mandatory for their soldiers, so as to keep it out of an enemy's reach? Some even advocated the shaving of the front of the head for this same purpose?

Like Liquid Ice, I have also heard/read that hair was extremely important to the samurai or some other group, though I'm not sure if it was the samurai or possibly even a Chinese group prior to or during the Qing Dynasty (or at other times in Chinese history...why, oh why, am I thinking of a movie Jackie Chan was in ?!). At some time, at least, a tail from the head of a warrior was the ultimate prize or war trophy to his enemy (like taking a scalp was important to other groups). It was also a source of humiliation to the warrior.

I'm not sure if the samurai also shaved or cut their hair to outwardly display mourning at all (as those in the Six Duchies do) but, at some stage in history, I'm fairly sure that they did begin to shave their hair to allow for increased comfort while wearing a helmet? This makes me wonder if long hair was, in fact, more important to a Chinese male than a samurai. I am making guesses with all of this though and have no real idea !!! Didn't knights tend to cut their hair for mourning?

A samurai also seems to have worn his hair in many different styles, with even the topknot itself worn in various fashions depending on the period eg as just a tail or queued and folded etc.

I think it was after Verity advised him to that Fitz finally wore his hair in a warrior's tail? Verity was with him via the Skill at the time and Fitz was unsure as to what to do with his jaw-length hair as it was annoying him. Verity went on to tell Fitz to tie it back as he'd earned the right to. This would be similar to the practice of a knight usually having longer hair than a squire, to show status/position?

To my way of thinking, a sailor's queue (as worn by Althea etc) differed to a warrior's tail in that it was like a greased braid or pigtail?

As for baldness, well, that's just plain interesting (!!) and not something I've ever thought about with regard to the status of a warrior! I agree with Liquid Ice in that I'm not sure it would matter in Buck or elsewhere in the Six Duchies. As far as I know, aside from the old man in Moonseye, Chade and Shrewd are the oldest of the males mentioned and I can't remember anything regarding their hair...will have to go back and have a dig!