Evening for WA Jeff,
David Weber has Honor Harrington in a pistol duel, unfortunately I cannot remember which book.
Tom Rux
That would be Field of Dishonor, the fourth book, with the buildup for that plotline taking place over the last third of Short Victorious War.
> On April 9, 2018 at 4:20 PM Jeff Zeitlin <xxxxxx@freelancetraveller.com> wrote:
>
>
> I'm working up the outline of a Jotting on duelling. However, I haven't
> really found a lot on-line about it yet, and I'm a bit fuzzy on applying
> what I have found to the Far Future. So... anyone have any thoughts, ideas,
> references,(accidental snippage - damn tablet!)
Dueling: any formal or informal, but still socially recognized, methodology of 1v1 competitive dispute resolution. Typically violent (the sword duel, the pistol duel, the common fist fight), it can also be athletic (almost any sport with a competitive win condition can be pared down to 1v1 and thus become a duel), or cultural/social (the verbal duel, the poem duels of Tokugawa era Japan - yes, those existed! Definitely includes debates of all types). Can also include card games, but those are less... Duel and more random encounter.
Most notably, no matter their legality, almost all types of duel usually require a challenge made in either writing or the precense of witnesses, with the challenge giving the reasoning for the duel. In the case of duels that have a formal structure, there might be a formal way of presenting the challenge (the classic "slap you with my glove" move).
The less violent the form of duel, the more likely a judge is to be required - preferably neutral to all parties, but also capable of performing the duel activity themselves (to ensure they can accurately judge the duel). The last bit is very important for cultural/social based duels, but sometimes the only neutral people... You get the idea. If two kings wish to duel with calligraphy, a bunch of uncultured offworlders might be the best option...