User blog:Arathorstories/Noble Savages

Just to clear something up that I see in a lot of discussions about the Horde, the term 'noble savage' is not just the terms 'noble' and 'savage' next to each other. It refers to a specific literary concept from the 18th and 19th centuries (with earlier roots): that of a man who, being untouched by the corruptive properties of civilization, is innately good and noble. You cannot have the noble but not the savage or the savage and not the noble when invoking the concept and archetype. You are either both a 'savage' - that is, untouched by civilization - and 'noble', or the term does not apply. Take careful note of that definition of savage - the original use of the term when 'noble savage' was coined did not mean innately violent, barbaric, etc, like it does today. Nor, when it came into broad use, did it in this specific context carry those meanings, but rather simply meant 'wild', 'untamed', and at its core, uncivilized.

This also means the term does not apply to any Horde species. All Horde species are, pretty much by definition (by belonging to the Horde), 'civilized' - and that's a very loaded term, it has to be said - and thus cannot be noble savages. The term has never really been applicable to anyone, anything, or any place and time, because it presupposes certain impossibilities and represents an idealized form of existence, not an attainable one.