Socken

A socken (plural: socknar) is a congregation of organized members (stims) of Orkanan people. In most cases, the socken also served as a territorial unit in Orkanan countries, although it may go by a local name. But with the separation between state and religion, the socken as a local territorial units has been replaced by other forms of worldly local administration in many Orkanan nations, with the socken functioning only in the religious context as a division within a stift.

Organization

Stims choose their affiliation with a socken or build a socken together. Land belonging to the stims tends to form the territory of the socken, which in most Orkanan nations served as the lowest level of government, comparable to a municipality. Even though the basic level of organization is on a religious basis, the socken tended to handle worldly matters as well. An example of this is local law enforcement. In most sockens of Vittmark, the appointed alf also served as a judge and usually helps to mediate cases using precedents. Originally, these precedents came from the Scriptures, but over the centuries, local legislation has been added. Local law, therefore, can no longer be seen as strictly religious law.

Local legislation is formulated by a socken board, sometimes with representatives of each stim and sometimes with elected officials. Local laws are called "lag" in Wortsproke, which is the same word used for "team." It is mostly a set of common rules or a code of conduct for the entire group. The religious leader (alf or herde) is always part of the local board. He or she used to be the head of the socken, but since the fall of the empire, socken leadership has more often rotated among "värds" (hosts).

The direct link between land ownership of extended families and the territorial borders of a socken has led to a scattered pattern of sockens with many enclaves and exclaves. In Vittmark, sockens tend to have between 200 and 2000 inhabitants. Local administration however covers at least 10,000 inhabitants in Vittmark these days, with a lot of the non-territorial issues being handled by a structly worldly administration. This form of local government was introduced during the reforms of 7609 and also solved the issue with enclaves and exclaves to over 95%.

Names

Sockens can be named after an existing placename or toponym, but many sockens get their names from the exemplars to which the congregation is dedicated. All kinds of hybrid forms are present as well; for example, Exemplar Knut's congregation might build a place of worship called Knutssala, which then becomes the indication for the entire settlement and with that, a toponym. Sockens with names like Knutssala tend to be newer. The choice between an exemplar or toponym is a matter of individual preference or local culture. For example, all of the sockens in the old town of Östvallen, as well as 4 out of 5 in the new town, are named after an exemplar. The more recently added sockens all have toponyms.

Etymology and Other Languages

The word "socken" is of Imperial Stoldavic origin, the language used in the northern half of the Greater Stoldavic Empire. During that time, the word spread across all of Stoldavia, Thultannia, and the northern Anarian coast, making it the default name for local congregations in any Orkanan or Stoldavic context. It comes from the verb "söka," meaning "to seek" or "to search." Its meaning, therefore, is related to people seeking a similar affiliation.

In Vittmark, the word "socken" is still used for local congregations, but even here, some regions use the more modern word "församling" (gathering). Orkanans in Aedeland and some other regions tend to use the word "sogn," which has a similar origin. Other languages have their own words instead of "socken," such as "chapelry" (Halland), "contio" (Anisora), or "pfarr" (Mörenburg), which is also the main word in Stoldish.