Ordning

The Ordning is a term originating from Dungeons & Dragons, which is used to describe both the internal hierarchy of giant society and the meta-social hierarchy that links the various breeds and castes of giants and giant-kin. The concept was originally specific to the setting of the Forgotten Realms, since the idea that the diffuse giant subraces once worked together in a single vast empire where each subrace held a specific social caste is an important part of the setting's backstory, but the idea was revived and made part of the "core canon" in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. This has earned some backlash from fans, especially since, at its core, the ordning is clearly based on the basic precept of "bigger is better", with the larger giants being more highly placed on the ordning's hierarchy.

The ordning was developed, or at least fleshed out, in the sourcebook "FOR7: Giantcraft", for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition.

Giantcraft Lore

(Note: "maug" is the giantish term for something that roughly correlates to "sinful" or "evil".)

Although each giant breed has its own unique customs and social habits, a few special customs are shared by all breeds. Most of these traditions date back to the ancient empire of Ostoria and its residents.

For example, all giant breeds believe in the sanctity of the ordning - the order. True giant societies are always organized around a stringent pecking order that stretches from the tribe's leader or chieftain all the way down to its lowliest runt. Unlike most other civilized societies, the ordning is not based upon classes or castes, but upon single individuals. There are no equals in giant society, just inferiors and superiors. Every giant is always aware of his or her exact rank within the ordning: the chieftain is et (or "one"), his closest adviser is to (or "two"), etc. all the way down to the lowliest member of the tribe.

Each of the various breeds and tribes bases its ordning around a different quantity, skill, or commodity. Among hill giants, for instance, the ordning is based around an odd combination of physical strength and gustatory prowess. Frost giant ordnings are typically based around wrestling, reveling, and boasting. Stone giant ordnings are based upon artistic prowess. In any case, the basis of the ordning is always concrete and easily quantifiable to the tribesmen, making ordning disputes easy to resolve. To rise in the ordning, one simply challenges a superior to a contest appropriate to the ordning's basis. Challengers who win change ordning rankings with the superiors they bested. Some tribes place no restrictions upon such contests, while others have devised special rules dictating when and if challenges may be issued.

Violating the ordning is an especially maug act. Violations include: refusing to show respect for a superior, refusing to share resources (treasure, food, etc.) with superiors, mocking/belittling superiors, refusing to obey valid orders, granting inferiors access to things beneath their station, etc.

Although their ordning ranks measure the giants' station only within their own tribes, the customary greeting between giants of two different tribes of the same breed includes an oral exchange of ranks. Though a giant is under no obligation to treat a higher ranking giant from another tribe as a superior, any other reaction is a blatant insult. Two giants of different breeds always ignore their respective inter-tribal ranks since the breeds themselves are ranked in a grand ordning.

Thus, the runt of a frost giant tribe is automatically of a higher station than the chieftain of a stone, mountain, or hill giant tribe. In any case, giants' obligation to their own tribal superiors is always stronger than their obligation to a superior from another tribe or breed. Failure to respect the ordning rank of an outsider is merely an insult or faux pas, not a maug act.

It may seem odd that some giant tribes base their chain of command upon such seemingly strange skills: gustatory skill in the case of hill giants, or wrestling skill in the case of frost giants. To the breeds in question, however, these skills are synonymous with virtue. Hill giants, for example, believe that the development of skills to satisfy the appetite is the true purpose of life. Thus, the giant with the very best such skills is obviously the most fit to lead.

Sitting atop all ordnings, of course, is Annam All-Father, the great giant god. Each tribe tends to personify Annam as the ultimate champion of its chosen virtue. Hill giants see Annam as a master glutton, frost giants view him as a wild reveler and unbeatable wrestler, etc.

Naturally, the giants' unshakable belief in the ordning is one of the reasons they tend to look down upon other races. Many giants see the entirety of creation as one large ordning with the giants themselves on top.

The Original Ordning Hierarchy

Titans

Storm Giants

Cloud Giants

Fog Giants

Fire Giants

Frost Giants

Stone Giants

Mountain Giants

Hill Giants

Ettins

Giant-Kin (Firbolgs, Voadkyn, Verbeegs, Fomorians)

Ogres