Everything about Warrior totally explained
According to the
Random House Dictionary, the term
warrior has two meanings. The first
literal use refers to "a person engaged or experienced in
warfare." The second
figurative use refers to "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics."
Overview
In
tribal societies engaging in
endemic warfare, warriors often form a
caste or class of their own. In
feudalism, the
vassals essentially form a military or warrior class, even if in actual warfare, peasants may be called to fight as well. In some societies, warfare may be so central that the entire people (or, more often large parts of the male population) may be considered warriors, for example in the Iron Age
Germanic tribes or the Medieval
Rajputs.
Professional warriors are people who are paid money for engaging in military campaigns and fall into one of two categories:
Soldiers, when fighting on behalf of their own
state; or
mercenaries, when offering their services commercially and unrelated to their own nationality. The classification of somebody who is involved in acts of violence may be a matter of perspective, and there may be disagreement whether a given person is a
hooligan,
gangster,
terrorist,
rebel,
freedom fighter,
mercenary or a
soldier.
Warrior classes
Some societies have had a privileged
social class or
caste with special responsibility for warfare. This class could be
hereditary or qualified. See also
nobility.
In
1937 Georges Dumézil famously speculated that
Proto-Indo-European society was composed of a priestly class, a warrior class, and an agrarian class. The
Indian society was based on these lines, composing of the
Brahmins (priests), the
Kshatriya (warriors), the
Vaishya (business class) and the
Shudras (servants). In contemporary
Jungian psychology, the warrior is often seen as a key
archetype of
masculinity.
Warrior code
In many societies in which a specialized warrior class exists, specific codes of conduct (
ethical codes) are instituted in order to ensure that the warrior class isn't dangerous to the rest of society. Warrior codes often have common features and usually value
honour in the forms of
faith,
loyalty and
courage. Examples include the
medieval knights' code of
chivalry, the
Kshatriya code of
Dharma in
India and
Japanese
samurai Bushido. See also
noblesse oblige.
Warrior cultures
A
warrior culture is a
culture that heavily emphasizes
battle and
war and greatly prizes feats of arms. Warrior cultures often incorporate a
cult of personality around military leaders, are ruled by an elite warrior class, and have a warfare based economy.
Examples of societies in history that could be designated as warrior cultures include:
Feudal societies are not always warrior cultures, since although feats of arms are prized, there isn't necessarily an emphasis on
battle and
war. In some
feudal societies, the soldiery was provided through
conscription of the peasant class.
Women as warriors
In many societies women have been considered innocent bystanders in war, alongside children. In such cases, fighting women is considered dishonorable. Most warriors have been men, however, there are many notable female warriors.
In Ancient Egypt, the earliest of recorded histories of human culture,
Ahhotep I and
Hatshepsut are documented as warrior queens. Others in various early cultures are documented as well.
Amanirenas, a warrior queen of
Nubia led her forces to attack Roman territory in Africa. After an initial victory when her forces sacked a Roman town, she was defeated and surrendered.
Since
Eurypyle,
Deborah, and
Vishpala there have been references to women warriors throughout history.
Boudica lead an enormous army that's well documented. See the list provided above for many more. Yet until modern times, however, warrior women mostly have been noted by historians as an exception or a curiosity. One example of a group of fighting women is the legend of the
Amazons, that's recorded in myths.
Today, women are recruited to serve in the military in most countries, while only a few countries permit women to fill active combat roles, including
Sweden,
Canada,
Denmark,
Finland,
Germany,
Norway, and
Switzerland. However, in other countries women do end up in combat situations.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Warrior'.
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