Jan 03
Adventurers are swords for hire usually. They’re professional troubleshooters. Need a dragon slain? Call an adventurer. Need to recover a stolen item? Ditto. Find a missing person, likewise.
But most professionals usually have contracts to define relationships with clients. It contains payment terms, expectations of duties to be performed, exit clauses and a host of other things that are important to someone who is self-employed.
In The Hobbit, when Bilbo first left the Shire to accompany the dwarves to the lonely mountain, all he had was a drunken verbal agreement and a handshake to get by with. If Thorin had wanted to screw him over and denied him of his share of the treasure at the end, he would’ve had no recourse. I don’t think verbal contracts are respected in middle earth…unless they come with a ring attached.
At the very least, I think Bilbo would’ve gotten more if he had a lawyer help in the contract negotiations. I mean, rescuing the dwarves from elves and spiders should result in bonus pay at least.
Actually, I would think that it was more or less like old English law: three witnesses who will swear an oath in court and it is accepted as legal.