Ancestral Elven Law

Ancestral Elven Law - also known as Proto-Elven Law, Old Human Law and Old Hulran Law - is a term used to describe a series of commonalities between the various law codes early Elven peoples, including the unattested hypothetical legal system of the Proto-Elves.

Proto-Elven Law
The Proto-Elven language itself was never attested by its native speakers, though phrases and sentences were recorded by non-native speakers: Shár/Limjiang people, Qaemedi, Argyrians, Lizardmen, Dwarves. It is important to note, that these people were all enemies of the Proto-Elves at one point: none of their records give any meaningful insight into their Proto-Elven legal system, and even if they did, it would be still important to keep their biases in mind.

Thus, the laws and legal system of the Proto-Elves can best be reconstructed by comparing the laws and legal systems of their descendant races, the, Wood Elves and , as well as making several assumptions based on the known details of their society:
 * The Proto-Elves were a tribal society, which allows us to assume that:
 * The Proto-Elves had a type of Customary Law, in which the line between "socially (un)acceptable" and "(il)legal" was a very thin one, if not completely nonexistent.
 * Proto-Elven tribal chieftains had a role to play as judges, mediating disputes between members of their respective tribes.
 * The Proto-Elves weren't secular: religious and secular authority were partly intertwined, with priests or shamans no doubt having a role to play in the legal system. Various crimes - such as homosexuality - specifically mandated a type of ritualistic execution as the punishment, carried out by the priests.
 * Duels were pervasive in Proto-Elven society, not just as a means of settling disputes over land, resources and women, but also as a way of deciding if an accused is guilty of a crime or not. Judicial duels - also known as trials by combat - were fairly common.
 * The Proto-Elves accepted the practice of Weregild or Blood Money, in which material goods (later currency) would be accepted as restitution for violent damage. This concept was likely introduced into the Proto-Elven legal system as they traveled through the Orient, coming into contact with more advanced societies.
 * There was a distinction to be made between intra-tribal legal issues (in which the tribe's chieftain could meditate to resolve disputes) and inter-tribal legal issues (in which meditation by a third party was needed, which would usually be a council of priests or shamans).

Early Human Law
It can be generally assumed, that the legal system of the early was practically identical to that of the Proto-Elves - however, there were early attempts at codification and and transition away from customary Law to a type of civil law: in the Kingdom of Hulra, this process was ultimately succesful, and we can witness the natural and organic evolution of a codified, written civil law system; in contrast, the Etrandish experiment was rather short-lived, after the death of Fathred the Great, the Etrandish quickly reverted to their old tribal ways, which included the absence of a written legal code, regressing to the level of the Proto-Elves.

Early High Elven Law
When the Kingdom of Froturn was founded under the leadership of Queen Salvia of Froturn (~1300 BEKE to 1106 BEKE), one of Salvia's first actions as the queen of her recently unified nation was to create a codified legal code: this legal code effectively a codified variant of the old Proto-Elven laws, albeit heavily modified, certain elements (such as Weregild or Blood Money) removed, while other elements added to better aid with the transition to a settled life and a more hierarchical society. A great deal of emphasis was placed on rule of law and resolving disputes peacefully. The distinction between intra-tribal and inter-tribal affairs was being eroded away, with judges no longer being tribal chieftains, but rather appointees by the queen herself.

During the rule of King Lynésus of Froturn (933-811 BEKE) and Queen Taela of Froturn (811-625 BEKE), Salvia's Laws would be partially deprecated in favour of a heavily modified version of the Ancient Lizardman Law, overlain with some aspects of Salvia's Laws. During this transition to a type of civil law, many of the late Salvia's Laws would actually remain active, albeit reinterpreted under the new Ancient Lizardman-influenced framework.