The Germanic Warrior: Loyalty Unto Death (opens in new tab)

In Germanic society, the surest route to wealth, status and power was success in battle. Its most important institution was the comitatus or war band, the personal retinue of elite warriors that every king or chief tried to gather around him and which formed the core of the tribal army. The need to keep the war band together often dictated the politics of early German chiefdoms and kingdoms.