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Legal texts cons� tute an unparalleled – and o� en untapped – source of informa� on for those studying the literature, languages and history of medieval and Viking Age Scandinavia. The Lexicon is a welcome contribu� on to the study of medieval Scandinavia on two counts: fi rstly, it makes accessible a wealth of vernacular historical documents for an English-speaking audience. Secondly, it presents legal terminologies that span the languages and geographies of medieval Scandinavia, drawing on twenty-fi ve legal texts composed in Old Swedish, Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian, Old Danish, Old Gutnish and Old Faroese. By colla� ng and juxtaposing legal terms, the Lexicon thus off ers its readers a fascina� ng, comprehensive window into the legal milieu of medieval Scandinavia as a unifi ed whole.

. It was probably connected to a family, and some have suggested that an aðalból signifies the residence of a landowner. Some degree of legal protection was afforded to an aðalból, as in Grg Lbþ 172, which states that debt claims must be paid from other sources before selling the aðalból. Some have argued that the concept dates back to the settlement period in Iceland, but the earliest known written evidence for the aðalból comes in church registers dating to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Often thought to be the precursor of the manor house (ON höfuðból) (q.v.)  The principal plaintiff or defender in a legal case. A principal had the right (and obligation) to prepare and present a case or else transfer those responsibilities to someone else. In most cases it was understood that the offended party and the one accused of the offence were to be principals, and Grg Vís 94 provides guidelines for determining who was principal in cases where one of these is lacking or incapable. In killing cases, a freeborn son of legal age (over sixteen) could be principal. Unmarried women and widows could also be principals for certain types of cases. According to Grg Þsþ 51 a pledge given by someone convicted of lesser outlawry (fjörbaugsgarðr) at a confiscation court (féránsdómr) to avoid a sentence of full outlawry (skóggangr). The pledge was to be one eyrir of the 'life ring' (fjörbaugr). It has been suggested that the root term comes from an obsolete word alaðr meaning 'alimentum', which may be present in a runic inscription on a gold bracteate from Trollhättan (Axboe & Källström 2013, 166), but it has also been thought to be a manuscript variant of the more common aðal-('main' Literally, 'family land from ancient times'. The word occurs only in UL, DL and VmL referring to land considered to belong within a family as of right from time immemorial. Schlyter relates the first element not to the pronoun alder, 'all', but to the noun ald, 'age' and the translation in SL UL reflects this. It is linked there with the expression fasta faeþerni and the two together seem to form a synonymic parallelism, stressing that newly acquired land is specifically omitted from the provision. The meaning is the same as other combinations with oþal (q.v.) and the expression gambli byrþ used elsewhere (e.g. OSw HL). This latter phrase emphasises the birthright nature of the land. The sale of such land could only be made under certain conditions and to certain people. In specified circumstances, purchased land could be converted to family land as of right, if it were exchanged for a parcel of family land of equal value, for example. The Icelandic General Assembly held annually at Þingvellir in the Southwestern part of the island. According to Íslendingabók it was instituted by Ulfljótr in 930, taking over the regional assembly at Kjalarnes. Afterwards the courts of the General Assembly, the Quarter Courts (ON fjórðungsdómar) and the Fifth Court (ON fimmtardómr), functioned as the highest courts in Iceland. All chieftains (ON goðar) were required to attend the General Assembly, and each could demand the presence of one ninth of all householders in his assembly group as well. Until 1271 the General Assembly was also the legislative seat of government in the form of the Law Council (ON lögrétta). Afterwards the assembly was administered by royal officials. The alþingi was abolished in (1798? -LexMA; the nineteenth century? -CV; the first decades of the eighteenth century? -KLNM) but subsequently reformed as the modern Icelandic parliament in Reykjavík. The Faroese General Assembly is also called alþingi in Seyð and presumably refers to the precursor to the Faroese Løgting. general assembly OFar Seyð 1, OIce Grg Klþ 6, 8 Þsþ 25, Jó Þfb 1 Llb 37, Js Þfb 1, 2, Lbb 5, Rkb 1 See also: goði, Lögberg, lögrétta, lögsögumaðr, vapntak, varþing, þing,  The ON þý appears in GL in the words þybarn, þydotir, and þysun (q.v.) in reference to the children of slave women, usually those fathered by the householder. The ambat did the indoor work on a farm and despite their low status they appear to have been given time off after childbirth (ÄVgL Gb 6 §3). In GL (chapter 6) it states that if a slave (male or female) worked on a Holy day, the master of the slave was fined and the slave had their period of slavery extended by three years, which seems excessively harsh. It does indicate, however, that lifetime slavery was disappearing and that slavery was perhaps viewed more as a punishment for crime, a means of supporting oneself by voluntary subjugation, or a way of discharging a debt, rather than a 'state', although domestic slavery does not seem to have disappeared from Sweden until the beginning of the fourteenth century (Karras,. The deghia (q.v.) was the most senior female slave in the household with special duties and rights, the female equivalent of the bryti (q.v. Norwegian law allowed contradictory testimony in a number of cases, such as, e.g., matters related to inheritance (GuL ch. 127). On the other hand, it was forbidden in such cases as home summons witness, witness to summons to the assembly, witness to a demand for surrender of odal land, and witnesses to quarrels at drinking-parties (GuL chs 59, 60, 268). The purpose of counter-witnesses was to show that the allegation of the opposite party was not true and therefore to make his (or her) witnesses appear as false witnesses. Iceland law (Grg) was more restrictive. A panel verdict at odds with testimony offered by witnesses, or testimony at odds with a verdict (testimony had to precede panel verdict in the procedure) was inadmissible contrary testimony and subject to penalty. One who owned inherited land and remained in an old village, as opposed to one moving to a new village located by the fields. Mostly appearing as otholbondae (cf. oþal) and often in the phrase maeþ tyltaer eþ oþolbondae 'with an oath of twelve land-owning men' (SkL). Literally 'eighth' of something. In SkL VSjL, and ÖgL the attunger was primarily a land assessment unit and an administrative district in the organization of the military levy system, leþunger. 'Most probably the original purpose of the taxation was to create an adequate base for the military levy system [i.e. in ÖgL, eastern Småland and Närke]. Several indications show that the attunger originally corresponded to one family's normal holding of land. The usefulness of the attunger for other purposes was soon realized. Besides taxes it also became the base for tenant's land rent, tithes to a particular hospital (domus Sancti Spiritus), compensation for plowing of fallow fields but also for the subdivision of common fields on a pro rata basis. The right to an easement could also be connected to the attunger. At the same time a subdivision of the attunger unit in several fractions was created which facilitated the trading of landed property.' (Ericsson 2007, Abstract). In the Västgöta laws and Svea laws (SdmL, UL) attunger was an administrative district on a low level. In the Svea laws area the land assessment unit was the markland (q.v.) around the late thirteenth century. The attunger in DL denotes an eighth of a legally divided village. In Norwegian laws it was used about an eighth of a fylki (q.v.), but in some laws it was an important unit in the organization of the leiðangr (see leþunger  KLNM s.v.v. attung, bol, byamål, hundare, jordmått, jordskatter, leidang, markland, sogn, öresland, örtugland;Lindkvist 1995, 20−21;Lundberg 1972, 92−93;Schlyter, s.v This referred to money value and rate of exchange. The relation between pure silver and silver in coin was often determined by relating them to some standard article of trade, such as ells of wadmal. An eyrir worth six ells was usual, and the ONorw laws also mention an eyrir worth ten ells (GuL), twelve ells, and nine ells (EidsL Literally, 'backwards'. The principal use of this word is in speaking of enemies of the king, those who were hostile to him. It alludes to the fact that shields facing the king, or 'backwards', were those of an enemy. Several other expressions, however, include this word. In the expression ganga avugh or aett sinni, referring to a free woman marrying a slave, it implies that she is 'backing out' of her inheritance. The word also appears in the expression elda afgum brandum (literally 'start a fire with backward firebrands'), referring to an inheritance that takes a step, or throws a glance, backwards (i.e. makes a reversion to ascendant inheritance) in the case in which there are no direct or co-lateral heirs. The ascendant inheritance would go right back as far as to a maternal aunt. The closest single relative took the full inheritance. If there were no living relatives of that order, the inheritance was divided equally between the paternal and maternal kin -the nearest on each side taking an equal share. The rules about the precise division of the inheritance are complex and not entirely consistent. In some cases, the division was according to the distance from the deceased, but in others, this did not apply.  (OSw) noun In ODan, appearing in the context of preventing biased witnesses or others acting at, for example, the thing 'assembly' or a ransak 'house search'. Also used of premeditated, violent deeds; in OSw often contrasted to deeds done in sudden rage (vreþe), and appearing in the context of eþsöre 'the king's (sworn) peace'. In ON, referring to physical damage to persons or objects, including illegal use of other people's property, offences which had to be compensated. Literally, 'true, genuine'. A closely related word, originally meaning 'ancestry', came in later medieval Swedish to signify 'the nobility' (cp. fraelse), but aþal in the medieval Nordic laws carried the connotations: 'true-born', 'legitimate', 'proper' and, of land, 'cultivated' (as opposed to woodland, marsh, etc.). An aþalkona/-man was thus a wedded wife or husband, as opposed to a concubine or lover; an aþal dotir (OGu GL) was a legitimate daughter, as opposed to one born out of wedlock; a man who was aþal gutnisker was a native-born Gotlander, as opposed to a foreigner. In GL, cultivated land was aþal jorþ and the proximity of this class of land in someone's ownership was considered to be more valid in determining the ownership of disputed land than woodland or marsh owned by another. More obscurely, aþalköps fastar (OSw UL) were fastar (q.v.) present at an unconditional land purchase (the aþal faest, 'confirmation of unconditional purchase', in ÖgL), as opposed to vaeþiafastar (q.v.), who were present for the mortgaging or pledging of land. Aþal vaerknaþer (OSw UL, VmL) was (heavy) work that was done on a working day (as opposed to that permitted on a Sunday). In DL the otherwise unrecorded aþalbogher (q.v.) is interpreted as the percentage (99%) of an inheritance that, in the case of ascendant inheritance, passed to the father or mother who alone survived the deceased, the remaining 1% passing to the maternal or paternal kin respectively. It was the 'major branch' of the inheritance. The prefix aþal-/adel-occurs as an alternative to oþal-/oþol-in words related to ancestral land and it also takes the meaning 'main, principal' in relation to settlements and roads. The ármaðr (pl. ármenn) originally designated a king's steward or bailiff who managed royal estates in Norway and those of jarls in the Orkneys. Ármenn were expected to house the king and bishop during their journies and were in charge of almost the entire local administration. Over time he assumed functions as the king's local representative, endowed with the power to act on behalf of the king in administrative and judicial affairs. In these latter functions he was also called erendreki (see ørendreki) in GuL, though this may refer to a separate official in FrL (LlbB 7). There may also have been some overlap in the duties of an ármaðr and those of the umboðsmaðr (see umbuþsman) or lénsmaðr (see laensmaþer). Bishops and provosts later had ármenn to operate on their behalf. In FrostL (11.2) one of the tasks of a bishop's ármaðr was the recovery of fines owed to the bishop. Ármenn of the king may have collected taxes and other revenues on his behalf as well. Another responsibility assigned to the ármaðr was the construction of buildings for the king, a duty which may previously have been performed by local farmers. There may have been one ármaðr for each fylki (q.v.) in Norway. According to FrL (Þfb 2), one of the duties of an ármaðr from each fylki was to enclose the Law Council (lögrétta) (q.v.) with boundary ropes (vébönd) (q.v.) during assemblies. According to GuL (ch. 311), the ármaðr, along with men given land by the king (lendir menn) (see laender) was responsible for sending around a summons to assemble for war. According to GuL (ch. 37), ármenn were not permitted to attend judgments at an assembly, though they could be represented by delegates (nefndarmenn) (see naemdarmaþer). An ármaðr was generally someone of lower birth and was brought into the service of the king, similar to the bryti (q.v.) or laensmaþer (q.v.) in the Old Swedish laws. It has been suggested that ármenn were slaves, though this is a matter of some debate, as there is little evidence available. Regardless they, along with the lendir menn, were often in conflict with local nobility whose interests rivaled those of the king or bishop. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ármenn were gradually replaced by the more esteemed and higher-ranked sheriffs (sýslumenn) (see syslyman) and by deans (provaster The literal meaning seems to be one of an enclosure (see vebönd). In GL, however, it was a defined area of protection (griþ, q.v.): the 'circle of peace' or 'security circle' that a killer could draw to shield himself from revenge. The killer had to go and stay in the rectory or churchyard of one of the three asylum churches (at Fardhem, Tingstäde or Atlingbo) for forty days, together with his closest male relatives (father, son and brother). These would presumably have also been under suspicion. They would have been protected from attack by the imposition of a wergild (vereldi) (see vaergaeld) of forty marks in coin (ten marks of silver), just under half a full wergild. The killer was then to draw up a circle in which he was immune from revenge attacks, encompassing three farms, with the permission of the owners, and a church. This temporary circle (vatubanda, q.v.) was converted to a permanent one during the general period of peace and security next after Easter. During the following year, others were to negotiate compensation with the wronged family, making the offer annually over three years. If not accepted, the offer was placed with the assembly and the accused was free to go, with full wergild now payable for his life. If no offer was made, or the killer left his circle (other than to go on pilgrimage), he was outlawed, unless he paid full wergild (twenty-four marks in silver) and an extra twelve marks in silver. A Gotlander killed in his circle was compensated with half a wergild (twelve marks in silver). The exact provisions in GL seem to be unique in Scandinavian laws, but the later town law of Visby shows similarities in respect of asylum, which may be the result either of direct influence or of a common concept and there are similar provisions in Grg, in particular for outlaws attempting to leave the country. Despite being outlaws, they had asylum at certain homesteads, roads and docks. On roads it is prescribed that, when passing other parties, they are to move off the road 'to such a distance that they could not be hit by the point of a spear'. A parallel, although not necessarily a precursor, is to be found in the Mosaic laws as exhibited in the Pentateuch (Exodus 21 v. 13;(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) and it was thus a very old concept, which seems to have been retained as a relic in GL. For example, the Oklunda inscription in Östergötland, dated to the ninth or tenth century, indicates that a particular killer sought refuge in a holy place (vi, q.v.) prior to making a settlement over the killing. In ÖgL there is a reference to a killer being protected from attack by the killer's relatives in a churchyard and as early as ÄVgL killing in a church is recorded as a despicable crime, so the protection offered by holy places seems to have been a continuum.
The bandavereldi (q.v.) was the particular man price payable for killing someone within their circle of peace. peace circle OGu GL A 9, 13, 14 See also: fjörbaugsgarðr, griþ, vatubanda, vébönd (pl.), vaergaeld Refs: Hasselberg 1953, 277;KLNM s.v. drab;Olsen 1966, 64−65;Peel 2015, 111−13 notes to 13/7−13/23−24;Ruthström 1988, 64−75;Schlyter 1877, s.v. banda;SL GL, 254−58;Wennström 1946, 188 bandavereldi (OGu) (OSw) adj. This adjective is used to describe someone who was outlawed on what was effectively a temporary basis, with the prospect of returning under the rule of law if fines or compensation were paid in time, and the king had granted him his peace. The fine payable to the king was usually 40 marker in addition to the compensation payable to the victim and the confiscation of property. The crimes for which this punishment was prescribed were those that fell under the category of eþsöris brut 'crimes against the King's Peace' such as attacks in the home, and it was in connection with this law that the term first came into use in its legal sense. According to the relevant laws of Svealand and Götaland, the person concerned had to leave the realm until he had discharged his outlawry. It is possible that this was not initially a requirement, although by the time of the national laws, this was clearly the case. The fact that exile was not always essential is exhibited in the fact that an outlaw was seemingly permitted to attend church services (as opposed to excommunicates, whose presence would force the priest to abort the Mass) and could not be dragged out of the church (VmL, UL). There were penalties for sheltering such a person beyond a month after he has been declared outlawed. In this particular statute in VmL and UL it seems that the outlawed person was expected to leave the kingdom, although the text is ambiguous and it might simply mean that he was to leave the province, which perhaps reflects two different forms of outlawry. This latter interpretation is supported by statutes relating to inheritance in which it refers to a child born to an outlawed man who has fled the province (land (q.v.) rather than riki (q.v.)) with his wife, whether that child was conceived before or after he had fled. Only if his child were born in the province could it inherit, and then only if it were conceived either before he was outlawed, or outside the province during his outlawry. An outlawed man could not claim an inheritance himself, even after discharging his outlawry. If he killed someone while outlawed, he was to pay the appropriate compensation after his outlawry had been discharged. According to Schlyter, the punishment was not initially for a fixed term, although this has at times been assumed. It is worth noting that both UL and VmL state that no woman or minor might be outlawed (literally 'forced to flee from the King's Peace'), although the word biltugher is not used in this instance. Schlyter considers a derivation from a presumed OSw verb bila, 'to lack' (found independently in ON in the meanings 'fail, break, give way') with the ending -ugher, but cannot himself find a link. It seems, however, that the person concerned is 'wanting the King's Peace', or the rule of law, so such a derivation is not unreasonable. It could also be related to a noun bil, 'a short time', also found in ON. SAOB, however, considers all attempts at an etymology unsatisfactory. Literally 'to bind, to tie'. In legal contexts most significantly bringing certain criminals -particularly thieves -to justice, physically restrained during the transportation to, or while waiting for, the þing 'assembly'. On the other hand, illegally apprehending or physically restraining an innocent free person was severely punished. Most often appears as baste ok binde (ODan), basta ok binda (OSw), but also binda a bak (OSw), (see below), which might be interpreted as tying the hands, or possibly the stolen goods, to the back of the thief. Occasionally, there is a more abstract legal interpretation of tying something to someone, often in the phrase binda a (OSw), literally 'tie to', which might be translated as 'to claim', 'to refer', 'to substantiate' or 'to attribute' for instance a crime to a person.  : bol, bolagh, bonde, bryti, byr, egn, fae, garþer, goþs, husaby, haeraþ, inviþi, jarl, konongsgarþer, oþal, öþer Refs: Árni Júlíússon 2010, 8;CV s.v. bú;KLNM s.v. bo, kronogods;Miller 1990, 115;ONP s.v settled OSw ÄVgL Jb, ÖgL Eb, Db See also: bofaster bodraet (OSw) noun Literally, 'dragging from the house'. It describes (incitement to commit) a crime of the type that would now be called 'an inside job', especially when the instigator was himself outside the household. The related bospaend (q.v.) occurs only in VmL and seems to describe specifically the act of theft by household members instigated by others, as it is followed by an expression meaning incitement to something. Schlyter and Wennström differ over whether two different crimes are being described. The latter believes that there is a difference, especially as VmL includes two separate statutes, one relating to bodraet and one to bospaend. He considers the latter to refer to the crime of incitement to theft and the former to the theft by household members whether resulting from incitement by outsiders or on their own initiative. These crimes are not mentioned in the laws of Götaland, GL or DL and Wennström argues that the relatively freer nature of household members in Svealand meant that they could be subject to fines and other punishments that were not relevant in Götaland. The term baugr, 'ring' (of gold and silver), appears in numerous medieval Germanic languages, and it was a multipurpose item used in various, often legal, contexts. People swore oaths on rings or ring-swords, and rings were visible signs of political networking and honourable gifts. The medieval Nordic laws show that rings, or bits of rings, were used as payment, esp. of compensation for manslaughter and fines, primarily to the king. In this case, a baugr in Norway equalled 12 aurar (1 1/2 mörk). OSw bogher only appears in HL, where it also equalled 12 örar (revealing a close connection with ONorw law). In Iceland the baugar were calculated in ounces of silver.
The plural form (ON) baugar usually referred to wergild, the sum of compensation a killer had to pay to the kin of the killed person. In ONorw laws three classes of baugar were distinguished: höfuðbaugr (q.v.), bróðurbaugr (q.v.), and brǿðrungsbaugr (q.v.), reflecting the distance in degree of kinship to the killed person. The people belonging to one such class were called baugamenn (see baugamaðr). The group of people entitled to (paying or receiving) compensation for manslaughter was called bauggildi (q.v.).
The term ránbaugr (q.v.) referred to unlawful seizure or holding of property; slanbaugr (q.v.) was what a person had to pay when he or she was watching an assault without interfering.
A famous example of this system of compensation is found in the OIce Baugatal ('The Wergild Ring List') in Grágás, which contains rules for compensation for manslaughter as far as to fourth cousins, which one kindred paid to another (see Laws of Early Iceland: Grágás I, 175). Various components made up the compensation, the silver baugr and smaller units were referred to as baugþak (q.v.) and þveiti (q.v.). Similar complex and extensive tariffs appear in the FrL and GuL (Norway) and in the HL (Sweden).
The reliability of the Baugatal as a historical source has been disputed, but recent scholarship (Christoph Kilger, Peter Foote) views it as credible, at least in its fundamental features.
The latter element of the baugþak is derived from the verb þekja, which means 'to increase a sum by adding to it' or 'to contribute to a price or fine'. Baugþak may therefore refer to the smaller pendant rings that are found linked around larger rings. Þveiti means 'piece' or 'fragment', and possibly also 'fragmented silver', and it is also mentioned in the earliest ONorw laws (see Hertzberg,750).
At the assembly (ON þing) the compensation rings of silver were checked for weight and tested, and Baugatal stipulated that the rings should be '… standing up to the test of a nick, and of one quality inside and out'. The baugr denoted a fine to the king, not only for manslaughter, but also for infringements of other kinds, such as letting one's cattle go grazing on other people's pasture (GuL ch. 81).
The importance of the concept bauger is also revealed by the number of compounds. In addition to those mentioned above, we find baugrygr (q.v.) (a woman entitled to a main part of the wergild), baugshelgi (q.v.) (degree of personal protection amounting to a fine of a bauger to the king in case of injury or insult), bauggildr (protected by a fine of a bauger), bauggildismaðr (q.v.) (a male relative on the father's side), baugaskipti (the distribution of fines and compensation among the persons involved), and fjörbaugsgarðr (the lesser outlawry). The last concept is known from the Grágás. The only OSw compound þiufbogher (q.v.) (compensation/fine for theft) appears in HL. {bogher} OSw HL Mb See also: bauggildismaðr, bot, gaeld, mangaeld, nefgildismaðr as in ONorw concerning bestiality, drunken quarrels and liberation of slaves (GuL). Only rarely in OSw, concerning theft (DL), paternity (HL) and shepherd duties (ÄVgL), as well as in a new king's oath of allegiance which should be sworn holding both a book and holy relic (SdmL). It seems generally assumed that the book on which an oath was sworn was the bible or a liturgical book, which might be supported by statements of a 'holy book' in OIce Js, for instance concerning the appointment of men for the alþingi 'General Assembly' and an ODan occurrence concerning the oaths of a naevning (see naempning) (JyL 2:42). ODan SkL 113 explicitly states that a levelling oath (ODan javnetheeth, see jamnaþareþer) should be sworn on a book, not on holy relics (ODan helaghdom, see haelghidomber), while SkL 147 and 226 state that swearing should be done by joining hands, and not on a book (see handtak Literally 'dwelling' and by extension referring to a farm including its farmland. In Danish laws bol refers to a certain part of the village land and the rights and obligations that followed, but may also be used as a land assessment unit. A specifically judicial use of bol in Norwegian laws was as a farming unit of a certain size, which was originally the basis for calculating the lease and later the taxation, and usually specified as to the unit measure, i.e. marker (see mark (2)) or mánaðarmatr (q.v.). There are several, sometimes conflicting, ideas of the nature of the bol in the Swedish laws. In Scandinavian texts in Latin bol is rendered by mansus, but the possible links between the uses of bol in Scandinavia and of the mansus in post-Roman Europe have not been explored.  : attunger, bo, bolstaþer, byamal, bygning, fiarþunger, garþer, kirkiubol, mánaðarmatr, ornume, oþoliorþ, rep, urfiaelder Refs: Andersson 2014, 24;Christensen 1983;Ericsson 2012, 22, 24, 28, 270;Hoff 1997, 197;KLNM s.v. bol;ONP s.v. ból;Porsmose 1988, 234−36;Rahmqvist 1996, 29;Schlyter 1877, s.v. bol;Tamm & Vogt 2016, 25;Venge 2002, 8, 173, 283;Åström 1897, 193−98 bolagh (OSw) noun This word is used in several different ways, all closely related. At the simplest level, it means a partnership, but it can also simply mean a common household, or by transference to the property shared in the partnership or household. The bolaghsmaþer (q.v.) was someone who owned a part of the farm as a partner, often for a stipulated period, as opposed to a bryti (q.v.) who was a paid member of staff. The word carries the same meanings as the ODan word faelagh (q.v.), which also appears in YVgL, and the ON félag. It is worth noting that in VmL the church and parishioners are involved in the setting up of a partnership, whereas in UL, of which in many respects VmL is a close copy, no mention is made of the church and the semiofficial term fastar (q.v.) is used of the witnesses to the formation of a partnership. There is an ON equivalent (búlag), occurring in legal texts not excerpted for the current work, defined as 'household partnership (on a farm), joint householding' or 'agreed tariff for agricultural produce and services'. An apparently synonymous (and even less common) term is búalag. There is also a relatively obscure late medieval legal text called búalög. aggregated property OSw HL Äb common household OSw UL Äb, VmL Äb partnership OSw DL Bb, HL Jb, SdmL Jb, UL Äb, Jb, VmL Äb, Jb See also: bo, fastar (pl.) This word, frequently used in the expression bolfaster man, means literally 'land-tied (man)'. In the translation 'resident', it occurs both as an adjective and as a noun. The implication is that the man concerned is a resident of the area with a fixed abode, as opposed to a löskamaþer (see löska), an itinerant. The translation 'resident' employed in UL and VmL is intended to include both those who own land and those who do not own land, but who are permanent residents. Such people were permitted to give evidence as witnesses of character or fact and to take part in the watch. Their status seems to overlap with that of bonde in the meaning 'householder'. In GL the translation 'landowning man' perhaps limits the cohort too much, but is intended to indicate the status of the person referred to, especially as the concept of an itinerant does not appear in GL and the word might be considered to distinguish landowning from tenant farmers (laigulenninger, the OGu word for OSw landboe). Since tenants could move from one parish to another when their tenancy ended, they might not have been regarded as 'residents' in the full sense of the word for legal purposes. This distinction equates to the translation in SkL. There seems to be no discernible difference between the meaning of this word and that of bofaster (q.v. The term bóndi/búandi was used to denote a man fixed to a location (as opposed to göngumaðr, q.v.) and usually married (cf. Beck 1975, 64). Düwel (1975, 190−92 (citing Hjärne)) defines bonde as a free, weapon-bearing man who has a fixed abode where he can be lawfully summoned. In general, the bonde was a farmer and landowner, and head of a household. However, not all farmers were landowners; many were tenants (OSw landboar, ODan garthsaeter, landboer, ON landbúar, leiglendingar, leiguliðar) (see landboe, garthsaete, laigulenningr, leiguliði). In WNorway (the province of the Gulathing law) there were thus two kinds of free bönder. In Mid and Northern Norway (the province of the Frostathing law) three kinds of bönder were distinguished: hauldr (see hölðr), árborinn maðr, and reksþegn (q.v.) (see below). There were also two classes of landowners: (1) farmers who had purchased their land (ON kauplendingar (see kauplendingr)), and (2) farmers who owned their land by hereditary (odal) right. The latter category, in ONorw called a hauldr or óðalborinn maðr, was considered the normal man with respect to legal and social status. He was to be preferred as witness, and he set the standard for the system of compensation and fines (bǿtr (see bot)) and sektir (see saekt) (see Helle 2001, 117). This system was graded according to the rank of the person(s) insulted, whether they had a higher or a lower status than a bonde. Only landed men (lendir men, see below), the king's marshal (stallari), the earl (jarl), the bishops and the king had a higher rank, tenants and freedmen (frjálsgjafar, leysingjar) had a lower standing. Slaves had no personal rights whatsoever. The social stratification of the Norwegian society was also reflected in the gravesites: the higher the rank of the deceased, the closer to the church this person was buried.
Peculiar to the FrL was the reksþegn, a bonde whose legal rights were half of those of the hauldr. He was ranked between the freeborn man (the árborinn maðr), and the freedman and each of their descendants. The former had at least four generations of free men as ancestors, but he could not match the hauldr because he lacked odal rights. He either was a tenant or owned purchased land.
It should be noted that the tenant, although inferior to the hauldr in social status, enjoyed the same personal rights (réttr) as the bonde with respect to fines and compensations.
In the OSw provincial laws and in the law of Gotland, the peasantry was less hierarchically structured, the main distinction being that of the free versus the unfree man. The latter group consisted of the slaver (þraelar). An exception to this pattern occurs in the VgL, where the landed man (the laender maþer) enjoyed a higher social status than the bonde. On the other hand, the bonde was ranked above the landed man, the bishop, and the king with respect to the vitsorþ (q.v.), which probably refers to the right of possessing land. A parallel may be found in the ÖgL, which supports the bonde against the king in disputes about the vitsorþ. In Norway, the landed men have been considered a special higher class of bönder who owned extensive lands themselves or possessed lands as grants from the king. It is doubtful whether this is the case in the VgL, despite Norwegian influence (see Lindkvist 2009a, 63 with further references).
An example of a hierarchically inferior bonde may be seen in the HL, where the messenger of the king (the kunungs ari) enjoyed a special protection when travelling in Hälsingland. If insulted he was entitled to a compensation double that of a bonde.
In the GL the landowners (bönder) and the tenants (laigulenningar, landboar) were equal before the law, except in their function as witnesses. In this and in several other respects there was a distinction between Gotlanders, non-Gotlanders, and slaves, with falling degrees of status. See, e.g., GL A 15,17,20,20a,24. In Sweden, as well as in Denmark, the bonde belonged to a commune. He was part of the village (byr) and the parish (sokn). As such, he was responsible for the building and upkeep of churches, roads, and bridges. The priest was legally on a par with the bonde. He was a member of the village, sharing the same obligations as the bönder. The importance of a bonde as a free man, implying a designation of respect, is evident in the laws of Västergötland. Here it is stated that a bishop and a judge (laghmaþer) have to be sons of bönder.
The ODan provincial laws indicate that most farmers were freeholders, but the number of tenants was increasing, esp. in Zealand. There were small differences between the two classes and mainly of a legal nature: Only freeholders were allowed as naevninger (nominated men, members of judicial panels, see naempning) in Jutland and compurgators in Scania in disputes about property. Within the group of tenants, there was a distinction between the landbo and the garthsaete. The latter was a smallholder, more dependent on his landlord. He was allowed to till a small piece of land for himself in return for compulsory labour for the landlord. The class of garthsaeter was greatly increased by the liberation of slaves.
For very serious offences or crimes, such as murder, vaergaeld 'wergild' had to be paid by the killer and his kin to the killed person's kin, as well as a fine to the king. Some crimes, the so-called óbótamál/ orbodemål, were considered too grave to be atoned for by compensation. The punishment for such crimes was usually outlawry.
There was no uniform system of fines and compensation in the Nordic countries. However, fines and compensation were graded in two respects: on the one hand according to the nature, scope, and harmful effects of the offence, on the other hand according to the social standing and personal rights (ON réttr) of the aggrieved person. All free persons were entitled to compensation when insulted, and OSw provincial laws considered all free men equal in this respect. The only social gradation known in OSw law was the so-called þokkabot (q.v.). In ONorw laws social gradation was the rule (except for cases of insult in church, at the assembly, or in parties, see FrL Mhb, ch. 58). In Western and Mid-Norway the freeholder (the hauldr) set the standard of comparison. Payments were stipulated in fixed relations to him. He was entitled to 3 merkr, an ordinary farmer (one without odal rights) the half of this (12 aurar), a freedman 6 aurar. Higher up on the scale were the landed men and the stallari (6 merkr each), earls and bishops (12 merkr). The highest fine to the king might amount to 40 merkr. Otherwise, the standard fine to the Norwegian king was 12 aurar (1 1/2 mörk). For minor offences, publicly known, the standard fine was 3 aurar. For bodily harm the Norw laws have very detailed and explicit provisions. For violations of church law fines were paid to the bishop.
As indicated above the culprit had in some cases, e.g. when vaergaeld was involved, to make payments both to the king and to private persons. A division of the fine is also found in ONorw law, when both the king and society (the householders) received fines for breach of justice (see Helle 2001, 94). Not only active offences were fined, but also disregard of decisions or judgements from a court (dómrof).
The ODan provincial laws distinguished between two types of bryter, on the one hand the so-called faelaghsbryte (q.v.), who enjoyed some kind of partnership with the landowner, on the other hand the ordinary bryte, who was just a manager or steward. See Ulsig 1981, 142−45;2011, 125, 129. Although the tenant was more independent, the bryte often managed far larger farms than the tenant did (see Ulsig 1981, 145;2011, 129−30). As a steward or manager of royal estate -sometimes the word bryte is used synonymous with ármaðr (q.v.) -he might assume higher administrative functions as well, e.g. the collecting of taxes and fines. In the ESjL the word bryte is also used synonymously with ombudsman (umbuthsman, see umbuþsman). He might even have responsibilities of command in military expeditions.
During the twelfth century the relationship between these two social classes changed, because the tenants were taken into the service of the estate owners (see Ulsig 1981, 146). Later (in the thirteenth century) the great lords (herremaen, see haerraman) were allowed (by the JyL II 76) to keep for themselves the three marks' fines incurred by the bryte, fines that would otherwise have accrued to the king. E. Ulsig has argued (1981, 155−56; 2011, 97) that the great lords took advantage of this to redefine many of their tenants as bryter. This seems to have expanded the nobility's grip on the resources of their dependents (see Ulsig 2011, 141).
In the late Middle Ages the bryte seems to disappear as a particular social group, probably an effect of the abandoning of large-scale demesne farming during the late medieval agrarian crisis after 1350. The examples of the word bryte in sixteenth-century sources (see Kalkar s.v. bryd(j) Refs: Brink 2008c, 3−6;2012, 45, 139−45, 258;2014b;Hertzberg s.v.v. bryti, verkhúsbryti;Iversen 1997, 119, 120, 124, 153;Kalkar s.v. bryd(j)e;KLNM s.v.v. befalingsmand, bryde, embedsindtaegter, kyrkogods, landgilde, tyende, årmann;Lund [1877Lund [ ] 1967Nevéus 1974, 26, 28, 141, 162;RGA2 s.v. bryte;Schlyter s.v. bryti;Tamm & Vogt, eds, 2016, 5, 21−22;Ulsig 1981, 141, 142−46, 155−56;2011, 97, 125, 129−30, 141 or the lawman to be responsible. In cases of murder or serious mistreatment, the aggrieved party was entitled to send out the message baton. It was usually carried from one farm to the next and seems to have followed regular routes; it was not to be stopped except in case of emergency (see arf). There was also a fixed procedure to be followed when a person was not at home to receive the message baton ( [4][5][6][7][8][9]11,12,14,18,19,22,26,46,50,59,17,19,19,20),  66,187,188,193,195,202,224,225 Her function in the household seems to be the female equivalent of a bryti (q.v.) or overseer. It was a person who was herself a slave or serf, but who had the responsibility for the other slaves or serfs in the household and who had the confidence of the householder and might even be in partnership with them. In GuL she was the highest-ranked of the female slaves. With the abolition of slavery, the role of the bryti became that of a steward of a household or estate. In Norway, deigja seems, in certain circumstances, to have been the designation used for the housekeeper (perhaps the best description of this female role) and possibly, for the concubine of a priest. female steward OSw YVgL Äb, ÄVgL Äb housekeeper ODan ESjL 3, ONorw FrL Kvb 21, GuL Mhb, OSw SdmL Tjdb, UL Mb, VmL Mb See also : ambat, annöþogher, bryti, fostra, fraelsgiva, hion, lavarþer, seta, saetesambut Refs: Brink 2005;Hellquist [1948Hellquist [ ] 1964KLNM s.v.v. bryde, kvinnearbeid, slegfred, tyende;ODEE 1986, s.v. lady;Schlyter 1877, s.v Literally, 'assembly of the Disir'. This was a festival and market held in February in pre-Christian Svealand, presumably in honour of the Disir, a group of pagan female divine beings. The event had legal significance and actually incorporated a number of separate assemblies. An attempt was made after the conversion to re-name it Kyndilþing (Candlemas Assembly), but this did not succeed. Candlemas (2 February) was the day upon which the levy was summoned. There was also a period of immunity from prosecution at that time, which lasted through two market days, probably eight days in all. Candlemas was one of the festivals of obligation in the church, in that the priest had to celebrate them. These were also the days upon which parishioners were obliged to make offerings to the church. Literally, 'hidden killing'. This word is used of the situation in which someone is killed outside a locked house and the killer is not discovered. If the body was found in a locked house, the owner of the property was liable for the compensation. As the custom was normally to declare a killing, the non-disclosure made the crime more serious. Compensation at about a third of that normal for a killing went to the relatives of the dead person (provided they identified themselves within a year and a day) or to the king in the case of DL. This was provided by the landowners of the land where the body was discovered (DL and VmL) or by the whole hundari (q.v.) (if the body was discovered on common land and in every case in UL). The members of the community, or the hundari as appropriate, also had the responsibility for seeking the real culprit. If the relatives did not come forward, within a year and a day, the compensation went to the king. This refers to a procedure, fines or responsibility that fall to a single person (or sometimes a number of specified people) to follow, receive or take in charge. In a number of the laws, it refers to fines or cases that are to be referred to the king, but in other instances it simply indicates who is to take up the matter. and it was a frequent way of proving one's innocence when faced with an accusation of crime. In this latter case it was often taken with some form of compurgation, with two others (a three-man oath, ON lýrittareiðr), five others (a six-man oath, ON séttareiðr), or eleven others (a twelve-man oath, ON tylftareiðr, see tylftareþer); OSw laws also allow for other numbers of compurgators. In general, the person taking an oath was to swear by God or Christ, in heathen times by the gods (ÄVgL Kkb 12 and passim). After the introduction of Christianity, he laid his hand on the Bible or another holy book (bókareiðr). According to VmL, a local administrator could challenge a householder saying that he had been robbed. The householder had to agree that this was the case and was then granted leave to pursue the thief. Once he had denied that he had been robbed, however, he could not later retract, and he was orþlös ok eþlös ('without grounds and without an oath') and could not pursue the case. oath ODan ESjL 2, 3, JyL 1, 3, SkKL 12, SkL passim, VSjL 40, 66, 81, OGu GL A 2, 3, 4, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20a, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 39 : asöreseþer, brista, eiðastefna, eneþer, eþsöre, fimmtareiðr, faella, lagh, lýrittareiðr, munhaf, orþ, séttareiðr, sexmannaeiðr, tveggjamannaeiðr, tylft, tylftareþer, vaeria, þriggjamannaeiðr Refs: Bagge 2010, 189, 212-14;Helle 2001, 103-04;KLNM s.v.v. edgärdsman, edsformular, gaeld, rettergang, vitne, värjemål;Robberstad 1981, 331, 363;Schlyter s.v. eþer eþlös (OSw) adj.
Expressions: orþlös ok eþlös (OSw) without grounds and without an oath OSw VmL Mb eþsorþ (OSw) noun content of an oath OSw HL Rb oath OSw DL Rb eþsöre (OSw) ezöre (OSw) noun Literally, 'oath swearing' (a compound of eþer 'oath' and form of svaeria 'swear'). This can refer prosaically to the swearing of any oath. More frequently it refers to the oath sworn by the king of Sweden and his highest nobility to uphold the law of the land (the 'rule of law'), to keep civil order in the kingdom and to protect the rights of the common people to peace and protection, particularly in respect of certain grave crimes, which they had agreed upon. The crown, in return, took a portion of any fine payable in respect of such crimes. This oath first came into force in the time of Birger (often given the soubriquet jarl) (d. 1266) and his son, King Magnus Birgersson (Ladulås) (1240−90), and is interpreted as the King's Oath [of Peace], or simply the King's Peace, sworn at the king's coronation. It was the king's promise to uphold peace in the realm and anyone who went against that consequently became the enemy of the king personally. This is laid out in the foreword to UL. The word eþsöre is also used as an abbreviation for eþsörisbrut, 'crime against the King's Peace', or for the penalty for such crimes, eþsörisböter. In addition to a fine, frequently consisting of his entire movables, the perpetrator was usually exiled from the kingdom, rather than just the province. If the plaintiff or the family of the injured party pleaded on behalf of the exiled person, then, according to, for example, UL Kgb 9, VmL Kgb 6 and ÖgL Eb 10, they could be 'returned under the King's Peace' against a sum of 40 marker being paid to the crown.
Originally, breach of the King's peace was such a crime as was considered to be against the realm as a whole, which effectively made the king your personal enemy, and with fines payable to the king rather than the local community or the injured party. The intention or consequence was that personal vendetta was discouraged and the power of the crown increased, leading eventually to the establishment of kingdomwide rather than provincial law. It was limited to very serious offences (murder, rape, illegal revenge, etc.), as exhibited in the Nordic laws. Such crimes were elsewhere designated niþingsvaerk (q.v.) or urbotamal (q.v.). These terms appear only occasionally in the law texts that have statutes covering eþsöre. It is clear from some of the statutes that women were not treated in the same way as men if they committed the equivalent crimes -banishment was in several laws specifically excluded as a punishment applicable to women.
It is worth noting that eþsöre is not mentioned in ÄVgL nor in GL. In the latter, the king is not referred to at all, even though he is mentioned in GS in the context of the levy and trade. In ÄVgL, the concept of urbotamal might be considered a parallel covering the same group of crimes, but there is no equivalent concept in GL.  : asöreseþer, brista, eþer, friþer, friþlös, faella, griþ, konungsþing, kununger, kunungsraefst, niþingsvaerk, svaeria, urbotamal Refs: Ekholst 2009, 59−66;KLNM, s.v The fardaghar, 'moving days', was the usual term for coming into possession of a farm, for payment in trade or leasing, assessment of land, payment of fines, etc. These were also the days when the tenant's right to remain on the land expired. According to the ÄVgL there were four fardaghar, all in the latter half of winter: the twelfth day of Christmas, Candlemas (2 February), Sunday before Lent, and Mid-lent. The ÖgL mentions only one: Mid-lent. The DL has no provisions about fardaghar, but two terms are mentioned for lease agreement: the winter nights (around 14 October) and Easter. In the SdmL and VmL the corresponding terms are Martinmas (11 November) and Whitsun. The VmL mentions three afraþsdaghar ('days for the annual rent to be paid') which coincide with the three last fardaghar of the VgL, It is therefore possible that these afraþsdaghar were also fardaghar. Most ODan provincial laws do not mention fardagh. The only exception (no date is given) is that the SkL ch. 238. Ch. 239 indicates one such day: the first Mass of the Virgin Mary (15 August).
The FrL knows only one fardagr, the first weekday (not holy day) after the thirteenth day of Christmas (6 January). The tenant was nevertheless allowed to keep half of the houses and, in addition, one fourth of the hay until the first day of summer (14 April), if he was homeless. In the GuL the fardagar was a period of nine days after 'summer day' (23 April). If the tenant could not move all his property within that period, he might keep half of the houses for another nine days.
In OIce law the fardagar began on Thursday in the seventh week of summer, i.e. in the week beginning 21−27 May, and expired in the night before the following Monday The Church ordered people to fast, i.e. to abstain from particular kinds of food, mainly meat, on certain weekdays and in certain periods of the year (esp. during Lent); see fasta n. The purpose was to subjugate the powers of the flesh and to deliver the mind from distractions with respect to the teachings of the church. The weekdays in question were Wednesday (only mentioned in the OIce laws) and Friday. Fasting was also obligatory on Ember Days (ON imbrudagar, see imbrudagr), periods of three days four times a year; on Rogation Days (ON gangdagar, see gangdagher), i.e. 25 April (OSw litli gangdagher) and the three days preceding Ascension Day; and on the days preceding many of the greater feasts such as e.g. Whitsun, jónsmessa, maríumessuaptann, ólafsmessuaptann, and three weeks preceding Christmas. The FrL (Tfb) also states that men were to go fasting to the assembly.
The most severe form of fasting was (ON) fasta við salt ok brauð, i.e. only water, salt, and bread were allowed. On the other hand, the rules of fasting were sometimes eased: meat was never allowed, but milk products, fish, and eggs were permitted. On some fasting days, one meal was allowed, on some others two meals, or one had to fast until noon (three o'clock). The punishment for violations of the fasting rules varied, ranging from fines to outlawry; but dispensations were granted, e.g. to manual labourers, to travellers, to the poor, and to the infirm. Sick and old people, persons under the age of twelve (in Iceland: fourteen), pregnant women, and persons in a state of emergency -when the eating of flesh was necessary for survival -were exempted.
Fasting was a usual penitential exercise, sometimes consisting in a diet of water and bread for a period of six weeks. In the OSw DL and SdmL, fasting was combined with fines in cases of illegitimate oaths, as well as in cases of multiple participants in killings in SdmL and the ODan ESjL.
For further details, see the Christian Law section (kristinn réttr) of the various provincial laws. Lesser outlawry was the penalty for a wide range of crimes in Grg, such as being ignorant of the baptism ritual, abusing the power of a goði (q.v.), practicing sorcery and numerous other offenses. Anyone judged a lesser outlaw (fjörbaugsmaðr) was forced to leave the country for three consecutive summers, and the outlaw's property was confiscated. Prior to departing the country a lesser outlaw retained his legal immunity at three declared 'homes' (heimili) (cf. Grg Þsþ 52 Folkvapn were the prescribed weapons of men in combat, though it is unclear whether it was considered a privilege to own these weapons or a requirement; possibly both. The term appears in several Swedish, Danish and Norwegian laws, though the number and type of weapons varied. In ÖgL three folkvapn are named: shield sword and kittelhatt (iron hat?), while in HL every man capable of fighting was required to have five, probably for levy service: a sword or axe, an iron hat, a shield, a mailcoat or musu (coif?) and a bow with three dozen arrows. In HL folkvapn could be inherited by sons of concubines (frillosonr). Four folkvapn are listed in SdmL, but three -a carving knife, a food knife and arrows -are listed as murder weapons. There also seems to have been some overlap between folkvapn and 'sea warrior district weapons' (hamnu vapn) in SdmL. In the Swedish laws, the ability to bear folkvapn may also have distinguished free men from those of lesser status, i.e. slaves, or even sons of householders -someone who was 'folk-free' (folkfri) had the right to bear folkvapen and go to war. In HL all men capable of bearing arms over 18 (higher than the age of majority) were required to have folkvapn.
In JyL (3.4) the captain of a ship was required to have a crossbow, three dozen arrows and a man who could fire it (if not himself). All householders on a ship were meant to have a shield and three folkevapn: a sword, iron hat and spear.
In FrL (VIII.13 & 15) all unmarried men were supposed to own folkvapn, namely a shield, spear and sword or axe. For the levy (leiðungr) every other man (one per bench on a ship) had to provide a bow while the other was to supply two dozen arrows.
In GL the folkvapn formed part of the inheritance given to illegitimate sons when they left home, along with three marks in coin, a variety of bedclothes and fifteen ells of broadcloth for outdoor clothes. There is no description of what they consisted of. Daughters received a cow instead, so they must have been quite valuable.
A citation from a text on lögfraeði and a later canon law statue stipulate that clerics should not bear folkvápn (without necessity Generally, a leader or supervisor of a group of people, such as household servants. Particularly, the supervisor of a parish priest to whom he was referred if he failed in his duty in some way or committed a crime against a layman. The same person is referred to as the arbiter in the context of the breaking of a betrothal, the validity of oaths, the inheritance rights of a child conceived at home but born abroad following the mother being captured. This person would presumably have been the rural dean or the bishop himself. The same word is used of the person appointed by the king to act in his stead in respect of the provision of moorings for the levy. The relationship between the person referred to by this title and the person(s) referred to as laensmaþer is unclear. It is possible that the former was a cleric (in the case of Church matters) or a member of the nobility (in the case of the levy), whilst the latter were laymen (such as the biskops laensman a bishop's official) or simply government appointees respectively. noun Legal protection of people and property; also occasionally protection of wild plants (OSw SdmL) and animals (OSw HL). Referring both to the state and to the time of protection. Breach of friþer was considered more serious the closer to home and the private sphere that it was done (OSw UL), and this concept also appears under other terms, such as hemsokn (OSw HL). Including, but not restricted to, the protection by the king, in OSw known as eþsöre, and, like this, occasionally translated as 'king's peace'.
Losing this protection was a punishment mainly for killings (OSw friþlös), and when referring to the return of friþer, occasionally translated as 'pardon' or 'rule of law'. Numerous types of friþer appear in the laws specifying the times, places, events or persons enjoying it. During such friþer, restrictions concerning for example the right to prosecute could apply (OSw HL, SdmL, UL). Breach of such a specific friþer was sometimes considered an unatonable crime (OSw urbotamal) but could at other times result in high fines to the king, bishop or the community depending on the violation. When referring to matters of the church, occasionally translated as 'sanctity' or 'sanctuary'. Also of exemption from certain obligations, such as taxes, and occasionally translated as 'freedom'. There is considerable overlap between usages and translations. protected OSw VmL Mb See also: friþer, vaernkallaþer friþlös (OSw) frithløs (ODan) friþlaus (OGu) friðlauss (ON) adj. Someone being declared friþlös usually implied that the person concerned was outlawed because of the crime that he had committed (usually a killing) and that the injured party or his agents could kill him, without penalty. Exceptionally in KRA 20, it is used to describe a man who has committed incest, considered an ódáðaverk (q.v.), and his state of being 'without peace' persists until the parties undergo penance issued by the bishop. In GL the killer was only outlawed if he refused to offer appropriate compensation within three years. If the offer was made three times but refused, the killer escaped the penalty. If the person were outlawed, his family was forbidden from taking revenge for his death and hence the law seemed to be intended to put a halt to blood feuds. According to ÄVgL, both an outlaw and an excommunicate could be driven out of the church if the parishioners wished, but this provision was dropped in YVgL, presumably because it was not considered appropriate that lay people should extract church punishments. The outlaw was driven out of the community to the uncultivated woodland and this punishment could even be extracted for failure to pay compensation for wounding someone. In the laws of Götaland, it is clear that a woman may, under certain circumstances be declared outlawed, but in SdmL it is specifically stated that women and minors might not be outlawed. Literally, 'known to be free'. It is used a number of times, in various law texts, but only in seemingly tautological parallelisms such as fraelsir maen ok friþvitir (pl.) 'free and freeborn men', where it is intended to strengthen the requirement for witnesses, etc., to be free men or, in the case of GL, to distinguish female victims who were free (frels ok friþvet) from those who were not. This had the possible implication that they were to be free born and not simply freed slaves, about whose free status there could be some dispute. Although the word fraelse (q.v.) later came to refer collectively to those who were free from taxes in one way or another, that is not the implication here: it is merely a distinction between those in slavery and those not. This was one of a number of words used to designate the marriage portion given by the parents to their son or daughter on marriage. It occurs only in this unqualified form in VmL and in later manuscripts of this and UL is replaced by fylghþ. A more frequent alternative was hemfylghþ (q.v.). The word could also refer specifically to the amount given to a bride by her marriage agent (giftomaþer), but otherwise applied equally to both sexes. The portion could consist of both land and movables and was at the time of the provincial laws treated as an advance on inheritance (Kock 1926)  A primary church for an entire district (fylki) according to GuL, but there are two fylkiskirkjur per district in BorgL and three in EidsL. It may be synonymous with a höfuðkirkja (q.v.) or stórkirkja. It has at times been equated to a burial church (graptarkirkja) as well, but this assumption is probably inaccurate. It was the duty of the bishop and the king to decide which churches were to be designated as a fylkiskirkja. All other churches in the fylki would then be subordinate to it. Bishops confirmed children and led services once a year at the fylkiskirkja. A fylkiskirkja has also been identified as a type of church which replaced the heathen höfuðhof ('chief temple') during the early stages of conversion to Christianity. Thereafter it became the mother church for all høgendiskirkjur, heraðskirkjur, fjórðungskirkjur and áttungskirkjur in each fylki.
Tradition states that Olaf Tryggvason commanded the fylkiskirkjur to be built, and his order was carried out during the reign of St. Olaf. In Ólafs saga helga it is recorded that a mark of weighed silver was to be paid to the fylkiskirkja each year from the church's estates. This was to be used for the maintenance of the fylkisprestr (q.v.). According to FrL KrbA 45, ordeals were performed at the fylkiskirkja. The priest of a fylkiskirkja, his wife and his dean were exempt from the levy (leiðangr, see leþunger) according to FrL Leþ 17.
Brink (2013b, 34−35) equates fylkiskirkjur and höfuðkirkjur with the Swedish hundareskirkior. These churches served a large area with no defined territorial boundaries and functioned as a kind of early stage of church hierarchy in the North during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
This word has two groups of meanings, both amply attested in Medieval Nordic laws: 1) cattle, livestock, 2) goods, money, payment; property. The original meaning, as indicated by the Latin cognate pecus, was 'cattle'. The extension of meaning is easily understandable in view of the fact that cattle constituted a large part of a man's or institution's property. Cattle might also be used as a means of payment. Some words with fae-/fé-occur in both senses: OSw leghofae, ON leigufé (1) 'leased cattle', 2) 'leased thing, money or property'); ON féhirðir (1) 'herdsman, shepherd', 2) 'treasurer').
The ODan danaet fae referred to valuables found in the ground without a legal owner or heir to claim them; they went to the Crown. Such treasure troves, perhaps specifically connected to pagan burials, have been found in Denmark.
The faelagh was a form of co-ownership or jointly held property. The provincial laws distinguished between two kinds of faelagh: 1) co-ownership, union of properties within the family; and 2) partnership in trade.
1) Co-ownership could be established by agreement between spouses (GuL ch. 53); if no such agreement was reached, the properties of husband and wife were kept separate. However, after twenty years' marriage (in the FrL twelve months), co-ownership was established automatically if it did not exist already. In Swedish households, the properties of husband and wife were kept more strictly apart. According to the JyL faelagh implied co-ownership between husband and wife only. The SkL and ESjL included the whole (extended) family in the faelagh. This meant that children got their part when they married, i.e. before their parents died. This faelagh was abolished in Denmark in 1547 and replaced by the marriage faelagh. In Sweden, both types continued to exist during the Middle Ages.
2) Partnership was the usual form for cooperation in order to equip end finance commercial travels and to secure the profit. Each partner (ON félagi) had to take care of the interests of his other partner(s) if necessary (e.g. in cases of accident or death Apart from the literal felling and falling of people and things, three main usages with legal significance can be discerned, albeit with some overlap: 1) To fail or neglect to perform a duty (or something similar), which is reflected in translations such as 'fail', 'neglect', 'decline', often referring to a person or a group of people failing to make transports, build fences, maintain bridges etc. 2) To fail to achieve (wanted) result -particularly of an oath -reflected in translations such as 'fail (an oath)', and possibly 'be annulled', 'dismiss', 'overthrow', 'default', usually referring to a defendant's failure to produce the stipulated number of oath-helpers, or to be supported by the men nominated to determine the case. In this usage, often appearing in the passive and as participles.
3) Presumably influenced by both a sense 'to fell, defeat; to fall, to be defeated' and from the usage 'to fail (an oath)', meaning 'to convict', and hence 'to pass judgment', which is reflected in translations such as 'convict', 'find guilty', 'condemn', 'sentence', 'judge'. The conviction, which could be reached through an eþer 'oath', could be issued by witnesses, occasionally other men involved in the dealings at hand, sometimes other actual eye-witnesses or other local men assumed to have knowledge of the facts of the case, or a group of nominated men, sometimes referred to as a naemd. This word -derived from the numeral faem/fimm -was the usual term for a summons to appear in a certain place after five days, and for the meeting or gathering held at the expiration of five days. The faemt was the usual notice, summons, or time limit in relation to judicial matters. It is known from several Nordic provincial laws and even elsewhere (e.g. the Faroes). OSw faemt was held five days after an assembly and fulfilled a function similar to a home summons (heimstefna, see hemstaempnung) in Norway, where debts could be settled. In Iceland, this concept appears in Js and Jó.
There are reasons to believe that the faemt was the length of a week in early Medieval Norway, and probably in all mainland Scandinavia. This rests, inter alia, on the length of the month, which was six weeks in the GuL (see Sunde 2011b, 224−25). It is not clear when the seven-day week was introduced in Scandinavia, but this probably took place before the introduction of Christianity. Nevertheless, the fiveday week continued in use, esp. in matters of law and public business.
Literally, 'paternal'. The meaning extended to cover the whole of the paternal side of the family, the paternal inheritance (as opposed to the maternal) and the ancestral land inherited from the father, although the expression faeþernis jorþ was frequently written in full. Sometimes the same word was employed with more than one of these meanings in the same sentence.
In the possessive case, faeþerni was used adjectivally to mean 'paternal', to relate to other specific parts of an inheritance, e.g. ancestral home, movables. The word also appears in connection with the question of how the children of mixed marriages between Gotlanders and non-Gotlanders were treated in respect of wergild. This is the subject of some ambiguity in the text, but it seems that the father's family was taken as the yardstick. ON faðerni is often used in a sense quite similar to modern 'paternity' and could be the cause for a legal case (saekja til faðernis, Grg Feþ 158 Refers specifically to someone who has died while lodging with someone else and has no known heirs. A person who was a gestfeðri was permitted to give away their property before they died or through a testament (gjaferfð), but if no such testament was made, the householder would be entitled to inherit the property of the deceased up to a certain amount (six eyrir according to Js Ert 17 and FrL ArbB 5). If the heirless person owned more property than this, it was to be split into equal shares between the householder and the king. Regardless the householder was obligated to wait for three years in case an heir was made known.
The same procedure was applicable to a person who has died on another's land or ship. The term gestfeðri and related nomenclature appears only infrequently in the laws, so it is unclear whether it refers to a specific type of person or a description of an individual. Earlier dictionaries class it as a noun, whereas the ONP has elected to identify it as an adjective. Usually her father, it would be a close family member if he were dead. According to UL and VmL, the right passed to her mother, then brothers, then sisters and so on, according to the inheritance rules. That the 'marriage-man' had to be the father or mother (or else nearest paternal, then maternal kinsman) is also specified in OIce law (Jó Kge 1). In ONorw law, FrL (Kvb 2), however, a third person (i.e. not the parents), the giftingarmaðr, had to be present at the instigation of a marriage agreement. A detailed exposition of the proceedings is given in VmL, although similar procedures and stipulations are recorded in ONorw and OIce laws as well as other OSw provincial laws.
The giftarmaþer had to resist the temptation to accept payment from more than one suitor. In this case, it seems that the giver of the price paid a fine, although the text is unclear. He certainly paid a fine if he paid the price to his intended wife and she had not obtained permission for the betrothal. If the betrothal were broken by the woman (or presumably her side of the relationship), the price had to be returned, together with any other gifts received from the fiancé. If, on the other hand, the man broke the betrothal, he forfeited the betrothal price and any gifts he had given. In addition, there was a compensation payment to be made, even in situations where the betrothal had been broken after the Church had judged the betrothal to be unlawful (either due to consanguinity or other kinds of forbidden relationships). Fines pertaining to the marriage-man are similarly mentioned in FrL KrbB 1 (three marks for accepting property during a pending case of hindrances to marriage). If an unmarried woman was seized and taken out of the province by force, the giftarmaþer had the power to bring the offender back under the rule of law (UL, VmL).
If an unmarried woman entered into a betrothal or marriage without that person's permission, she lost her inheritance and might be subject to other strictures.
In that case, her parents and not the giftarmaþer were entitled to forgive her, if they wished. This seems to confirm that in certain cases, even if her parents were alive, someone else might act as a woman's giftarmaþer (but this is not clarified in UL or VmL). If someone unauthorised gave her away in marriage, that person was subject to a fine as punishment for the loss of the betrothal price to the giftarmaþer (UL). If, when the bridegroom went to claim his bride, he were refused, the giftarmaþer could incur a fine, as well as paying the groom's expenses. In addition, it seems that, certainly in the OIce laws, the giftingarmaðr was responsible for the woman's dowry, as the passage quoted above prohibits the heir of the giftingarmaðr from rescinding the dowry (also supported by a 1294 amendment to Jó stipulating that women who marry without consent forfeit their dowry from the giftingarmaðr). The concept of someone 'giving the bride away' for a sum of money or other consideration seems to hint at marriage by purchase referring back to a pre-Christian practice. The concept of hostage occurred in three contexts: 1 a) when war was imminent, and b) in wartime or war-like situations; 2) when guarantors were needed to secure payment of debts etc.; 3) in connection with royal elections. 1 a) According to the Leb of GuL (ch. 312) the king was allowed to take some of his men as hostages when war was imminent and he had reason to doubt the loyalty of his men. If a man refused to let himself be taken as hostage he was eo ipso guilty of treason (GuL ibid.). However, if people remained loyal and provided good defence, the king had to return the hostages unhurt, at the latest when a hostile fleet had been out of sight for five nights. b) If people had been taken prisoners they were often treated as hostages, who could only be released by ransom (see, e.g., GuL ch. 201). The size and character of the ransom varied and was the subject of discussion, including questions about who was to pay, and how, etc. See the lengthy description in GL (A 28).
2) The OSw laws contained provisions about borghan and gilzl (bail, security, etc.). A person functioning as a hostage was to guarantee that certain obligations were met, be it offences, deals, or debts. An offender had to provide hostages to secure the execution of punishment (personal, social or economic) if he himself was not capable of paying the penalty. If a man had contracted debts, he was in his capacity as debtor also a hostage. Hostages enjoyed a special protection by the law (cf. OSw gislingabrut, 'captives' crime', and gislingalagh, 'law of captives') against abduction. On hostages in law texts, see Olsson 2016, 35−36, 206−09, 281−88, 347−68. 3) The procedure prior to royal elections in Sweden implied the use of hostages. On his journey through the central provinces, the so-called eriksgata, the prince who was to be elected king had to be escorted by four men, chosen anew from one province to another, so as to secure that the right person was elected king.
The most frequently occurring meaning of this word, which is in certain instances considered to be in the plural form, is that of 'protection, sanctuary, truce'. The protection granted under this concept was one limited in time and/or place, as opposed to trygth (q.v.), which implied a permanent peace settlement and a promise not to take revenge. Griþ could be granted to someone and accepted by him (griðasetning), or it could be selfimposed (sjalfsettr). The truce was usually granted for a limited period during which the killer or other criminal could not be attacked. After that he had to satisfy certain conditions, otherwise he would again be in jeopardy. The granting of asylum in churches came relatively late into Icelandic law, although it appears to have been current earlier. In ÄVgL, the word is used in the context of disputes over a promised marriage arrangement. Meetings between the parties were governed by griþ, translated as 'peace', but in fact more in the nature of 'safe conduct' (as translated in YVgL). The dispute was to be resolved, in other words, without recourse to violence. Similar provisions are apparent in ÖgL, translated as 'promise of immunity' and the concept can perhaps be traced to pre-Christian times (e.g. on the Oklunda inscription). Breaking of a truce or promise of immunity was a niþingsvaerk (q.v.), and later became a crime against the King's Peace (eþsörisbrut). The various truce speeches (ON griðamál) to be found in Icelandic sources seem, from the wording, to have originated in Norway and are notable for their complex grammatical structure. The legal framework behind truce speeches appears also in the laws of medieval Denmark. A subsidiary meaning refers to the relationship that a person without their own household had to the household in which they lived, were employed and to which they were attached for legal purposes. In Grg in particular, it is stated that a person must have a 'legal domicile'. Being a member of a household in this way brought with it rights, but also responsibilities. There was the responsibility to respond to summonses and sometimes to act as the householder's legal substitute.
The word also appears in GuL. A griðmaðr (Grg and GuL) was a free man in a household and in GuL, BorgL and GL the word griþkuna seems to refer to the female equivalent, who could sometimes be treated like a daughter or sister. In GuL, it seems just to have referred to a free female servant as opposed to an enslaved servant; someone who could be called as a witness. In BorgL and in GL it refers specifically to a woman who had to be present at a birth, together with a female neighbour, in order to confirm that a child was born dead, or had died naturally just thereafter, and had not been killed deliberately. In the Danish and Low German translations of GL, words referring to midwives are used. Although it is possible that this is the result of a misunderstanding and that it was merely any unrelated female household member that was intended, Wessén thinks that it is probable that the OGu word acquired the meaning 'midwife' under the influence of an unrecorded OGu *graiþa, 'help, speed' at the birth (cf. ON greiða). It is in any case likely that one of the female members of the household would have been particularly skilled in this respect. The relationship between this meaning of griþ and the meanings related to 'truce' might not be obvious, but the protection offered by being a legal member of a household might be seen as a general form of protection and the other meanings as more narrow forms of the same.  : banda, fimmtargrið, friþer, griðamál, griðarof, griðastaðr, griðastefna, griðatími, griðbítr, griðfang, griðmaðr, griðsala, griðtaka, griþkuna, gruthe, gruthnithing, gruþspiael, hemahion, hion, örvarþing, spekð, tryggðamál, trygth, vatubanda, þrael Refs: Helgi Þorláksson 2005;KLNM, s.v.v. drab, grið, griðamál og trygðamál, jordejendom, kvinnearbeid, lejde, landsvist, trygd, The king's treasurer or steward. The gjaldkyri has been suggested as a Nordic equivalent of the Lat. praefectus urbis or exactor or a justice of the peace in medieval England. The gjaldkyri appears in Scandinavia from the twelfth century, most frequently in Norway. The term itself possibly of foreign origin, though it might also be a combination of ON gjald 'payment' and -keri/-kyri from ON kjósa in the sense of 'to acquire'. The gjaldkyri was in charge of city affairs and served as the king's agent in market towns (ON kaupangar, see köpunger), where he was responsible for collecting fees, maintaining order and the administration of justice. According to Bj and Morkinskinna, the gjaldkyri was also obligated to collect land dues (ON landeyrir, see landaurar), had to report news from a legal assembly (ON lögþing, see laghþing) and declared outlaws. He may have had an obligation to jail criminals and to assign members of the night watch. A gjaldkyri might have been synonymous with a sýslumaðr (see sysluman), or at least the two seem to have worked together closely. Following amendments during the late thirteenth century, the gjaldkyri was one of the few men permitted to bear arms in a city. The Swedish gaelkare in VmL appears to have had the same responsibilities as the Norwegian gjaldkyri. The rarely attested Danish gaelkere probably initially held these duties as well before eventually receiving an expanded set of powers as the king's governor of Skåne.
In Norway the gjaldkyri was initially elected by the population of a city, but he was later joined by the sýslumaðr and lögmaðr (see laghmaþer), all appointed by the king. These three, along with the councilmen (ON ráðsmenn, see raþman) made up the city council. After the fourteenth century they were gradually replaced by the foguti (in Norway: byfogd), an official borrowed from the German administrative tradition.
Gjaldkyri remains in use in modern Icelandic to refer to an organization's treasurer or bursar. gierþi (OSw) giaerþi (OSw) noun Derived from garþer referring both to a fence and to a fenced in piece of land, usually an arable field or a meadow, since the land in need of protection from grazing animals was fenced in, rather than the animals. The form of the fences varied considerably across Scandinavia and also over time depending on available building material, and the laws mention a wide variety of different types of fences, however the numerous general words for fences (such as garþer, gaerþning, gaerthsle, haeghnaþer) do not appear to reflect any inherent difference in meaning. The laws specify -with different terms for the fences -the areas to be fenced in, the dates for achieving this and, with the exception of Danish laws, the criteria for legal fences. Fencing was an important part of communal village life. Inadequate fences, and the resultant damages of crops, appear to have been a frequent source of conflict between villagers, since provisions concerning the obligations to fence constituted a substantial part of the sections of the laws dealing with communal village life, occasionally even forming an entire section of a law (utgaerþa bolker in the Swedish YVgL).
In the Swedish laws, the large individual cultivated field in a field rotation system was called gaerþi. Each farm had at least one strip field (tegher (OSw), teigr (ON), aker (ODan)) in each field (gaerþi (OSw), vang (ODan)). (64) : balker, garþer, gaerthsle, gaerþa, gaerþning, haeghnaþer, staur, vang, vaern, vaernalaghi Refs: Hellquist [1948] 1964Hoff 1997, 142−49;KLNM s.v.v. gärde, hegn, odlingssystem, envangsbrug, teig, teiglag, tovangsbrug, trevangsbrug, vang;Myrdal 1999a, 19−109;2011, 77 This word is used in at least three distinct ways. Firstly, it is translated as 'holy' or 'sacred', in such expressions as helga land, 'the Holy Land' (GL), heilög orð, 'sacred words' (Grg). In referring to persons it is used as a designation of holy people as a class (that is those connected to the church), or the saints in general or the particular, Secondly, it refers to 'holy' days as opposed to working days: Sundays, saints' days, church festivals, etc. Thirdly, it is translated as protected in some way. The related noun, haelgh (q.v.), and all its derivatives are used with similar implications and the noun appears in the concept, manhaelghþ. In the translations 'immune' and 'protected', the word is related to the concept of hemfriþer, the protection that one had in one's own home against attack. The concept is very closely connected with that of friþer (q.v.) and being 'under the King's Peace', with all the protection that the rule of law supplied. The original meaning of the word, as opposed to the translations employed, has been much disputed, and the history of this is reflected in the references. The discussion is the more interesting as it is a word carrying concepts of great importance in the Norse and wider Germanic sources, both legal and literary. holy OGu GL A 6,8,9,60 Likely to be the personal property of the woman and typically consisted of textiles and tools for textile making, but also other movables and immovables, reflecting the resources of the giver. In OSw, an advance of the inheritance, in some laws compulsory while in others voluntary, and to be returned for redistribution at the death of the giver. In ÖgL, also the gift given by the groom to the bride. In ONorw, a substitution for inheritance of daughters, and could not be redistributed among her siblings. Although the term is not attested in Danish laws, wedding gifts to daughters are presumed to have been given, albeit with no specification as to them being her personal property. In Denmark such crimes were often gang crimes, which were more severely punished (graded according to the number of gang members) than crimes committed by individuals acting on their own.
In GL the word is used only for penalty, not the crime itself. Killing the householder usually elicited triple compensation.
Also in Norway, heimsókn was considered to be a serious crime, normally leading to outlawry for the culprit, but he might be released by paying a very high compensation/fine, forty merkr, half of this to the king in case of killing (dráp, see drap The most senior representative of the Norwegian king in Iceland from the late thirteenth century until the end of the fifteenth century. A hirðstjóri is occasionally referred to as a lénsmaðr (see laensmaþer). Usually there was only a single hirðstjóri present in Iceland, but anywhere between one and four could be active at a given time. The hirðstjóri had a range of responsibilities including the collection of royal fines from sheriffs (ON sýslumenn, see sysluman) and managing royal property in Iceland. They also carried out a number of judicial duties, such as presenting royal ordinances at the General Assembly and occasionally appointing judges. In Iceland the title was replaced by the höfuðsmaðr ('headman, leader') or fógeti (see foghati) (the latter of which was unfortunately also at times used to refer to the hirðstjóri's agent) by the end of the fifteenth century.
In Norway the hirðstjóri must once have had some connection to the king's retinue (hirð), but the term ceased to be used there by around the 1390s (cf. Waerdahl 2011, 258 In OSw, one of a few legitimate reasons for calling an extraordinary þing 'assembly', connected to the right to take the law into one's own hands. Generally, an offended man could kill the male adulterer if caught in the act, and in some laws his right extended to killing his wife too. In OSw UL and VmL the offended woman had the right to kill the adulteress but not her own cheating husband; although the latter may have been possible in OSw HL. Both the man and the woman could be fined, and in addition the woman could be rejected by her husband and lose all of her property, her wedding gifts as well as her legal part of the mutual property of the married couple. In ODan SkL, both the rejected wife and the offended husband were prohibited from remarrying while their spouse was still alive. In GL, a married woman committing adultery with an unmarried man received no consolation, while any man caught in the act with a married woman was heavily penalized (wergild equivalent or death), and with an unmarried woman, he was placed in the stocks and risked losing a hand or foot unless he or his kin redeemed it with six marker. When a married woman was found guilty of adultery then, according to VmL, she could have her nose or ears cut off, or her clothing shredded upon discovery (it is not stated by whom), without any compensation being payable. In SdmL, the status of the adulteress is not mentioned, but the person allowed to take revenge was the wife who had been supplanted. The latter was to be paid three marker by the adulteress According to both VmL and UL, but not SdmL, she would then be taken to the assembly for judgement. If she were found guilty by twelve men, she was then to be subject to a 40-mark fine. If she were unable to pay then, according to UL, her nose and ears were to be cut off, together with her hair. Since she was unlikely to be able to pay, as she had forfeited her bride price by committing the offence, the mutilation or hair cutting was probably a frequent consequence. Short hair was possibly the sign of a prostitute, or at least a rebellious woman, in medieval society, following one of the interpretations of an obscure passage in 1 Corinthians 11. What happened if the accused woman had been mutilated and later found innocent is not stated -either regarding payment of compensation, or punishment of the mutilator. Each hreppr was governed by a group of five councilmen (hreppstjóri; also called [hrepp]sóknarmenn). Communes were allotted one quarter of annual tithes, and these funds were dedicated to the maintenance of the poor and to serve as insurance in the event members of the commune suffered a disastrous fire or loss of livestock. The insurance aspect however seems to have vanished by the time Norwegian rule began in Iceland, as there is no mention of it in Jó. Communes were also involved in the process of spring sheep drives. Maintenance of the poor by the hreppr is thought to predate the tithe system introduced to Iceland in 1097.
In England, particularly in Sussex, the term hreppr was co-opted as rape and referred to an administrative division between a hundred and a shire. In Norwegian dialects and place names it refers to a settlement or group of estates, while in Sweden it was part of a church parish, but the term never took on any legal or political strength as in Iceland. However a manuscript variant in MLL indicates that a hreppr might have been an older administrative district in Norway as well. The term hreppr has been equated with sogn in Norway In ODan, appearing in the context of the right to beached whales; the king was to be informed of the find, but the finder also had the right to a part. Hanging may have been the most common form of capital punishment, although the method was rarely explicitly mentioned in OIce and ONorw laws. Hanging was considered dishonourable and was mainly used in cases of theft exceeding a certain value, and when the thief was caught in the act. Women were not to be hanged with the explicit exception of cases of witchcraft in OSw ÄVgL Tb. In ODan JyL 2:87 the hanging was to be carried out by the king's official, but otherwise it seems generally assumed that the plaintiffs could act as executioners of the death sentence issued by the þing 'assembly'; a preceding sentence was, however, not required in OIce and ONorw laws. Often appears with the adverb/particle up. In GuL a hölðr is also referred to as an óðalborinn maðr and in BorgL as an árborinn maðr. The legal status of a hölðr according to Gul was between a landed man (lendr maðr, see laender) and a householder (bóndi, see bonde). The primary distinction between a landed man and a hölðr was that the former had received land from the king whereas the latter had not. A hölðr was entitled to double wergild (as compared to a householder), and they could pass on twice as much property to an illegitimate son. In Gul and the LandsL a hölðr had the right to be an einfyndr (i.e possessor of sole rights) when coming upon a drift whale of a certain size. Moreover they, along with householders, were permitted more prestigious burial plots than freed men and thralls. Some earlier commentators have viewed the hölðr as a type of landed aristocrat. In LandsL a hölðr is strictly defined as someone who has inherited allodial land from both his father and mother, and it has been suggested that this criterion meant that there were relatively few hölð and that they became increasingly fewer as the Middle Ages progressed. According to Bj, everyone in the Niðaros township was accorded the rank of hölðr. In GuL this notion of 'freeholder's rights' (hauldsrett) is expanded to include all free men in places where strangers came together, such as cities, fishing areas and trade stations. In FrL the king's page (skutilsveinn) also holds the rank of hölðr, as do the king's goldsmith and the captains of his ships. In GuL (ch. 200) Icelanders on trading voyages to Norway were granted the rights of a hölðr for three years, but those of other countries only the rights of a bóndi. A similar law attributed to St Olaf decreed that Icelanders should hold the rank of höldr when visiting Norway (DI i.65.2). The term is not otherwise used in Iceland, and in JB it has been substituted with riddari (q.v.). The term is not found in the Danish or Swedish provincial laws, but it does appear in some Danish place names.
In courts, a hölðr was preferred for serving on jury panels, but they could be replaced by householders if necessary (cf. FrL). Their importance declined sharply in the later Middle Ages as their property was absorbed by the nobility and the church, and the number of tenant farmers (leiglendinger, see laigulenningr) increased.  .)). An individual man was allowed to build a private church when the journey to another church was considered (too) long and strenuous. The private churches were gradually included in the parish organisation; they were used by other people in the surrounding areas and even obtained the right to receive tithes. In this way, they formed the basis of a new parish organisation, which from the second half of the twelfth century onwards partly replaced the one of the regional laws. Chancellor; a high-ranking official in the king's court. Known in Norway from at least the beginning of the thirteenth century until the death of the last named chancellor in 1679. Duties of the kanceler are outlined in Hirðskrá, but they changed over time. Among these were the responsibilities of seglbevarer ('keeper of the [royal] seal'), overseer of royal dispatches (including letters for landsvist 'the right to reside in a realm or province' and keeping copies of outgoing missives), management of royal incomes and registration of royal estates. For a time the kanceler was also head of the royal chapel clerics, though the position gradually lost its ecclesiastical duties after the Reformation. While most members of the chancery were stationary, the kanceler, as bearer of the royal seal, accompanied the king's ambulatory court. After 1380, when Norway was ruled by foreign monarchs, the chancellor's duties diminished and consisted mostly of issuing letters of peace (gridsbrev) and pardons (landsvistsbrev). From 1314 the Norwegian chancery operated primarily from Mariakirken in Oslo.
In Denmark the figure of chancellor first appears around the end of the twelfth century; in Sweden not until the end of the thirteenth century. The normal meaning of this word is '(old) man', or as an alternative to bonde (q.v.), meaning man in general, householder, husband, or as 'common man', as opposed to the king, but in GL it is used in two specific instances, firstly to mean 'grandfather' in particular and secondly to mean 'the head of the family' in general. If a man's son dies leaving daughters, they were to be adopted by their grandfather in a more or less formal manner. In UL and VmL, it is used as a title, signifying the 'representative of the hundari' and this title has been retained in the respective translations. It has not been excerpted in the OIce laws, being in general rather than particular usage. The kúgildi may have represented an early standard of legal currency (lögeyrir, q.v.) in Iceland, namely one based on cattle. This standard was later replaced by cloth and subsequently by fish. It is thought that cattle served as a currency standard throughout Scandinavia from the prehistoric period up into the Middle Ages, and the term kúgildi persisted for some time after cows ceased to be physically exchanged. A cow which was kúgildi is defined in Grg Misc 246; it had to be medium-sized, aged between three and ten winters, horned, without blemish and in milk. Interestbearing loans could be assessed in kúgildi. Values of other animals could be expressed in kúgildi, such as twelve one-year-old sheep being worth one kúgildi, though some fluctuations on this standard are attested. The money equivalent of kúgildi was set at spring assemblies (várþing) and therefore could have a different value in various parts of Iceland. This lasted until the late twelfth century, when, in comparison with the later cloth standard, kúgildi became equivalent to 120 ells of homespun cloth (vaðmál) or its equivalent in silver from 1186, if not earlier.
The kúgildi was used particularly for larger transactions, such as farmsteads or land. As such, kúgildi and its compounds appear frequently in medieval diplomas. It has been suggested that kúgildi might also refer to a plot of land required to maintain a cow. Alternatively, it may have been a unit measuring an amount needed to sustain one person for a year.
Kúgildi was in common use until at least the sixteenth century and was used sporadically well up into the modern period. The value of a kúgildi in relation to other goods, in particular butter, changed over the years, especially from Erik Magnússon's 1294 amendment and later.
In the Norwegian laws kúgildi has been compared to kýrlag, which appears in numerous diplomas. Kýrlag is defined in GuL (ch. 223), though the term itself does not appear there.
Between c. 1100 and 1300 a kúgildi was worth at least 2-2.5 aurar of pure silver (cf. Gelsinger 1981, 195 When referring to oneself translated as 'to confess', 'to admit', 'to acknowledge' (mostly appearing as kaenna sik, kaennas and often with a particle viþ(er)). When referring to somebody else: to make a suspected criminal known ('to accuse', 'to charge'), or, for example, to make the father of a child known ('to identify', 'to attribute'). Also to make a convicted criminal known ('to be found guilty'). When referring to an object: to make ownership known of, for instance, missing domestic animals ('to identify', 'to recognize', 'to claim'). There is considerable overlap between usages and translations. laghmandr (OSw) noun One of the king's officials; a royal judge. The laghmaþer was a prominent judicial figure throughout the Nordic lands during the medieval period. In most areas one of the prime responsibilities of the laghmaþer was the organization of assemblies (þing). Lagmenn were paid from a combination of public funds and royal grants. In Sweden the term laghmaþer probably originally referred to a man learned in law who advised during assemblies. A laghmaþer was of particular import in Sweden, as he was placed over an entire province by the king. He led assemblies, suggested and framed judgments, recited law at assemblies annually from memory, presented official notices and legally recognize newly elected kings ahead of the eriksgata (q.v.), assessor in the ?provincial tax committee (? Sw beskattningsnämnd). Initially laghmaen were legislators in Sweden, but from the late thirteenth century on they were almost exclusively judges. In HL the laghmaþer seems to refer almost exclusively to judges. According to a charter dated to 1270, the laghmaþer in Västergötland was the recipient of a tax called lagmanskyld in the sum of fifty cattle every four years. In both Sweden and in Norway the laghmaþer had the right to demand hospitality from householders on the way to and from assemblies (cf. e.g. UL Kmb 10). After MEL was promulgated in Sweden, and perhaps even before, the laghmaþer had the power to convene extraordinary assemblies. One of most important duties of the laghmaþer in MEL was to hold four 'land' assemblies (landsþing) every year. The laghmaþer was also in charge of the general assembly for the areas governed by the Göta laws (aldra göta þing). ÄVgL (Rlb 3) stipulates that a laghmaþer must be the son of a householder (bonde, q.v.) and be elected by 'all householders' for life. The post was not hereditary, but it often fell to magnate families and later to members of the landed nobility. Laghmaen were commonly among the king's council and were appointed by him and the bishop up until the sixteenth century, when it became a noble privilege to select lagmenn until 1668. In Sweden the office of laghmaþer was not abolished until 1849.
In Norway a lögmaðr could refer to anyone knowledgeable in legal matters as well as an official title. They remained legal councilors until the late twelfth century when a lögmaðr became a royal official. In the mid-thirteenth century they were given judicial powers and control of the lagting. As an official he was entitled to a portion of certain fines (cf. FrL Intr 1). Besides these a portion of royal estate was set aside for their maintenance (cf. FrL Intr 16). In later amendments lögmenn also received a fee from attendees at assemblies. A lögmaðr in Norway was required to 'recite the law', i.e. announce judgments which occurred at assemblies. Like the Icelandic Lawspeaker (lögsögumaðr, q.v.), the Norwegian lögmaðr was also responsible for dictating the law to the general public (cf. EidsL 1.10 and FrL Rgb 1). During the twelfth century the position of lögmaðr was absorbed into the royal sphere and became one of the king's officials. He was also charged with prosecuting certain cases, such as those in which were illicitly resolved outside of a court. Occasionally several lögmenn were assembled to decide on a case. As in Sweden, the lögmaðr eventually became a type of judge in Norway and is referred to as such in e.g. MLL. Likewise in MLL the lögmaðr was responsible for setting up the boundaries (vébönd, q.v.) around the assembly and around the Law Council (lögrétta, q.v.). Early on lögmenn were drawn from among the hersir ('local chiefs, lords') and then from the landed men (lendir menn, see laender). The office of lagmann was not abolished in Norway until 1797, and it was subsequently revived in 1890 as a new type of official.
In Iceland the lögmaðr replaced the lögsögumaðr after the Commonwealth Period. The term appears first in Js and subsequently in Jó and numerous charters. In Iceland the lögmenn were appointed by the king, and from 1277-83 there were two of them. They directed the General Assembly (alþingi, q.v.) and chaired the Law Council (lögrétta), which by this time was now a court rather than a legislative body. According to an ordinance issued in 1294 a lögmaðr in Iceland had to be a member of a chieftain's (góði, q.v.) family. In later sources the term lögmaðr is often applied to earlier persons who did not bear such a title at the time. Icelandic lögmenn continued to be appointed until 1800 when the General Assembly was dissolved.
Macek (2009,242) makes a distinction between the lögmaðr and one of its translations: lawyer. Where the latter is a profession involving formal education and practice, the former, she states, was a relative or friend to whom one turned for legal assistance. This word is used in three distinct meanings. The closest to the literal meaning is the formal recitation of the law by a lawman, for example in the OIce Grg, also including the office of the man who does the recitation. The second is the written manifestation of the law -the legislation itself, and the third is the jurisdiction over which a particular version of the law is relevant; this last could be a grouping of a number of provinces, a single province or a smaller division thereof. In the third meaning, the word is often coupled with land (q.v.) in an alliterative expression that seems to be synonymic. A distinction is drawn in UL between hundari (q.v.), folkland (q.v.), and laghsagha in such a way that it is evident that increasing areas of authority are referenced. Wessén clearly equates laghsaga with 'landskap', province. The right to reside in a realm or province. Such a right was possessed by every free person (ON friðheilagr maðr) but could be lost via the commission of a serious crime. Exile was usually part of the penalty for particularly heinous crimes which could not be mitigated with compensation (óbótamál, see urbotamal).
In the Norwegian and Icelandic laws, landsvist seems to have carried some additional meanings. There it may refer specifically to a letter in which a king grants this right to someone proven guilty of a crime which would incur a sentence of exile, such as murder. Landsvist seems to have been granted specifically for homicide cases in which some mitigating circumstances became apparent. In order to be granted landsvist the defendant had to procure a letter outlining these circumstances (ModNorw provsbrev) and pay a fine to the king (ON friðkaup; also called landkaup or skógarkaup) as well as compensation to the kin of the slain. The actual landsvist letter was then issued by the king's chancellor (ON kanceler).
Since landsvist is not present in GuL, it has been suggested that the concept was an innovation of the thirteenth century as part of the growing centralized power of the monarchies in the Nordic countries. leave to remain in the country  17,19,59,71,73,118,121,139,145,VSjL 32,50,51,53,58,68,69,78,87 A freed slave was a person whose freedom was limited or imperfect. The man was variously termed fraelsgivi (OSw), fraelsgive ODan) and frjálsgjafi (ONorw) (freed slave, freedman), the woman fraelsgiva (OSw) and frjálsgjafa (ONorw) (freed woman, freedwoman). It should be added that the word frjálsgjafi in OIce (Grg) means 'freedom-giver'. A different set of terms was leysingi and leysingja. Among free men, frjálsgjafar and leysingjar occupied the lowest rank in society with respect to personal rights and social status. The difference between the two categories was marked by the frelsisǫl (freedom ale).The frjálsgjafi (OIce grefleysingr) was a person whose manumission had been granted, but not confirmed (made public). Until he had given his freedom ale, he ranked below the leysingi. (This terminological distinction was not always strictly observed: the word leysingi was sometimes used to denote frjálsgjafi as well.) Nevertheless, frjálsgjafi and leysingi belonged to the same class with respect to the system of compensation for insults etc. (bǿtr, see bot).
The leysingi could attain a practically free status either by giving his freedom ale or by other means (e.g. through performing extra work, or having his freedom granted by others). In ODan and OSw laws -with the exception of ESjL -manumission presupposed that the slave to be freed was adopted into a free kin. Still a freedman had a lower status in society. With respect to compensation for offences, whether suffered or performed, he was worth less than a (completely) free man. Although his master had to provide him with a place where he could live, the master inherited the fraelsgivi and could decide whom the latter was allowed to marry. When he got old, he had to rely on the care of the church. In any case, the act of manumission had to be confirmed by oath and later announced in public, either at the assembly or in the church.
ON laws also show that the freedman was not entirely free from dependence on his master. His disability in this respect was inherited in the form of special loyalty commitments (þyrmslir) (which might end after twenty years). His freedom was also restricted in other respects. He could not leave his fylki (q.v.) without his master's permission (GuL ch. 67). If he had not given his freedom ale he could not make any bargain that exceeded the worth of one ertog, i.e. 1/3 eyrir (GuL ch. 56), in the FrL 6 counted aurar (Kvb ch. 23); his master made decisions about his marriage (GuL ch. 63) and inherited from him. The children of a freedman could not inherit from him, unless the freedman was married to a freedwoman and they had both given their freedom ale (GuL ch. 65). The master was also responsible for his freedman's contribution to the levy, if the latter could not pay (GuL ch. 296).
His right to compensation (in case of injury) was 6 aurar (GuL ch. 200), half of what the bóndi (householder) could claim. According to the BorgL he was buried in the quarter leysingjalega, which was farther from the church than (and inferior in rank to) the quarter where the householder was buried. The EidsL (I 50) has a similar provision.
The system of slavery implied in this terminology was gradually abolished. The GuL (Krb ch. 4) states that the assembly each year had to give one slave his freedom, and slavery seems to have disappeared in Norway towards the end of the twelfth century. In Sweden, slavery disappeared gradually under the influence of the church and the king. An important step in this direction was marked by the Skara stadga (1335). In Denmark slavery disappeared in the thirteenth century. In Iceland slavery was never officially abolished, but seems to have disappeared in the twelfth century.  also: bóndaréttr, bonde, bot, frelsisöl, fraelsgiva, fraelsgivi, fylki, grefleysingr, leysingja, aettleiðing, þyrmsl Refs: Helle 2001, 125−32;Hertzberg s.v.v. frjálsgjafi, leysingi;Iversen 1997, 41−43, 190−91, 199-204, 210-28, 235-40, 258−65, 281-84;KLNM s.v.v. böter, leysingi, staender, årboren mann;Nevéus 1974, 46−50, 80−86, 102−05, 128−31, 150−56, 162, 165;RGA2 s.v. freigelassene;Robberstad 1981, 348;Strauch 2008b, 250-53;2016, 35- The leþunger was the military service connected to the system of naval defence, and the dues and taxes that the subjects owed to this service. When mobilised, the soldiers were obliged to stand at the king's disposal in order to protect the country, esp. the coastal areas, against attacks from enemies. There is evidence of its existence in all Danish laws, in ÖgL, and all Svea laws except DL, and in the Norwegian FrL and GuL as well as in the appendix to GL (Guta saga, GS). By the time that the Swedish laws were written down in the form we know them today, these obligations had been transformed into yearly taxes in times of peace. The meaning of liþ in this instance is, basically, 'gap' and has no connection with liþ2. As well as several related meanings, it also forms part of a number of combinations, all of them relating in some way to a link between two things -hand and arm, outside and inside a house, two fields, two villages, etc. gap OGu GL A 24f (64) The purpose of an announcement (lysning) was to call certain facts to the attention of assembled men, usually at church, at an ale feast, or at the assembly (see þing). Such notice had to be given to validate certain acts and to keep alive certain rights, such as the right to redeem odal land. or people, including an archbishop. In Iceland the Archbishop of Níðarós confirmed the election of a ljóðbiskup and performed his consecration. The term lyþbiskuper was also used to designate missionary bishops who preached the gospel among the 'gentiles', including the Nordic peoples. A lyþbiskuper has also been identified as a type of rural bishop (korbiskop) who was responsible for a district of countryside until at least the sixth century and possibly as late as the ninth. These were bishops without a fixed see and who assisted with consecrations and acted on the behalf of the ordinary bishops when the latter were unavailable. A prohibition or veto. These could be issued in a variety of circumstances during private cases, such as prohibiting a man thought to be deserting dependents from leaving the country (Grg Ómb 132) or forbidding owners of pasture land from grazing when boundaries were not properly established (Grg Lbþ 175). A similar, and probably related, term is used to indicate stone boundary markers (q.v. lýritti). Hoff (2012, 329) suggests that ON lýrittr parallels the concepts of actio auctoritatis or actio finium regundorum in Roman Law. One commonly accepted etymology of lýrittr is lýð ('people') and réttr ('rights') which yields an interpretation of 'the law of the people, the law of the land' as in GuL Løb and Jó Llb 26. laender (OSw) lendr (ON) adj. The landed man (laender maþer, lendr maðr, so called because he had been endowed with land from the king) was a local magnate who acted as the king's highest representative in his district. He was a royal vassal, attached to the king by an oath of fealty and service. He was ranked below an earl, but above a freeholder. With respect to personal rights, his status (in the FrL and GuL) was equal to that of the stallari (q.v.), i.e. twice as high as that of a freeholder. He belonged to the group of the king's most important advisers. In the king's retinue (hirð) he was counted among the officers. If the son of a landed man was not endowed with land by the king before he was 40 years old, he was not counted as a landed man. Men holding this title were called barons after 1277, and they were granted the right to use the title herra (see haerra).
Like gaelkare (q.v.), the title has been used to translate Lat. exactor. In Denmark and Norway a representative of this kind was often called høvedsmand.
In the Swedish laws a laensmaþer was often an official of the king (OSw konungs laensmaþer) or bishop (OSw biskups laensmaþer) who saw to local administrative matters and represented their interests at assemblies (OSw þing) and collected taxes and fines on their behalf. Laensmaþer also appears to be interchangeable with the term for prosecutor (OSw soknari) in YVgL, ÖgL and SmL, all of which appear to have functions similar to the Norwegian ármaðr (q.v.). According to UL the laensmaþer had the privilege of convening a panel (OSw naemd) which selects judges (OSw domari) in each hundred (OSw hundari). The husabyman (q.v.) in DL may have been the equivalent of a laensmaþer in Dalarna, though the former may have had some slightly different responsibilities or indeed have been subordinate to the laensmaþer. The terms konungs maþer and biskups maþer in OSw DL and HL may refer to a laensmaþer.
In Denmark and Norway a laensmaþer may also refer specifically to a holder of a fief (ON lén, see laen) granted by the king (or a bishop, in the case of church estates). As such he operated as governor of an area during the Middle Ages and was permitted to make use of the region's incomes.
In Norway a lénsmaðr often referred to a deputy to the sheriff (sýslumaðr, see sysluman) and acted on his behalf, particularly by serving in court proceedings. He also had the authority to arrest criminals. There were not supposed to be more than two lénsmenn in any given district (fylki). According to an ordinance issued in 1293, a man who was appointed lénsmaðr had to be a householder (bóndi, see bonde) from a good family. The most important function of a lénsmaðr was collecting incomes, namely taxes and fines. He also had police duties and could stand in for the law-man (lögmaðr, see laghmaþer). After 1537 the administration system was restructured and a lénsmaðr was renamed bondelensmann. The title lensmann is still used in Norway.
In the Icelandic laws the lénsmaðr generally refers to the sheriff and his aides. The term does not appear until amendments began to be made to Jónsbók, though it is used in several medieval Icelandic diplomas thereafter. This institution was peculiar to Norw and Ice law. The word is derived from the expression rétta lög, i.e. to provide a valid explanation and interpretation of what the law says about a given case (see Hertzberg, s.v. lögrétta; KLNM, s.v. lagting). In Iceland, this expression had a wider meaning (see below). In Norway the lögrétta was a panel or tribunal under the provincial assembly (the lagþing, see laghþing). Originally it seems to have consisted of 36 men, authorized together with the law-speaker to explain the law, pass judgements or sentences, or give verdicts. To be legally binding, the decisions of the lögrétta had to be approved by the assembly.
The size of the lögrétta is a moot question in Norw legal history. An older group of scholars thought that the lögrétta was composed of three tribunals only, each consisting of twelve men. Later scholars tend to believe that it was constituted by the whole body of delegates to the provincial assembly, which in the Frostuþing consisted of four hundred men.
Whether large or small, its function as a judicial power and ultimate court of law seems certain as far as the provincial laws are concerned, until the introduction of King Magnus the Law-Mender's Law of the Realm (the 'ML landslov') 1274 (see Strauch 2016, 115, 153, 168).
In Iceland the lögrétta (the Law Council) was originally a body under the alþingi. The expression rétta lög was here also taken to mean 'formulating or passing laws' (see KLNM, s.v. lögrétta). In the period 930-ca. 965 it seems to have been composed of the law-speaker and 36 goðar (see goði), each accompanied by two ordinary members of the alþingi 'General Assembly'. Around 965 additional members were appointed, and from 1106 onwards, Iceland's two bishops joined the lögrétta. The total number of members then amounted to 147 persons. As already indicated, the Icel lögrétta mainly functioned as a legislature, it decided what was law or should be law (see KLNM,s.v. rettergang (vol. XXI,col. 299)). It also elected the law-speaker, it granted licences and exemptions from the law, and it had the right to pardon. In other words, it was in some ways an administrative body (see Laws of Early Iceland, Grágás I, 249; RGA 2, s.v. lögrétta; Strauch 2016, 40, 218).
The plurality of the meanings of this term in the medieval Nordic languages can be compared to the similar ambiguity of the kinship terms gener ('male in-law') and nepos (i.a. 'grandchild', 'nephew', 'niece') in medieval Latin. manndráp (ON) noun Literally, 'man killing'. This crime was specifically one in which the killer was known, and had admitted to the killing. The killing was also one that was not aggravated by other circumstances (cf. dulghadrap, morþ). The word appears as an alternative to drap in the laws of Denmark and Götaland, in GL and in SdmL but is absent from most of the laws of Svealand, where drap (q.v.) with different qualifying prefixes appears throughout. The contrast with the crime of morþ ('murder') seems to be more in the context of the admission to the killing and the lack of concealment than in the nature of the killing itself, although there are instances in the laws of Götaland in which breach of trust is an element in the classification of the crime. This being the case, the translations 'killing', 'homicide' and 'slaying' are probably nearer in meaning to the original than 'manslaughter', which carries with it the connotation of a reckless or violent act, likely to cause or intending injury, but devoid of a prime intent to kill. Literally 'sanctity of man', these two forms are used as synonyms in the medieval Nordic laws. A translation, or rather a modern interpretation, suggested in private correspondence by Helle Degnbol of Copenhagen University, was 'human rights'. These rights applied to free men and women, but not to slaves, under the law. The books in the law that are entitled manhaelghisbalker (q.v.) cover those aspects of the law that we would today call criminal law (as opposed to civil law, family law, land law, ecclesiastical law, etc. Sometimes, however, these statutes are split over a number of different books in the law, covering theft, killing, wounding and in some law texts there are no divisions into books at all. Crimes against manhaelgi include cases in which the personal security and liberty of an individual are breeched in situations ranging from murder to petty theft. In GL, and elsewhere, the word is used particularly in connection with periods in which greater security was granted to people -times of church festivals, harvest, etc. -times that were called -friþer, '-peace', with a prefix specifying of the period in question. The link between manhaelghi and the concept of 'peace' is therefore very close. From there the link to hemfriþer (q.v.), the sanctity of the home, can be made and by extension to the grave crime of hemsokn (q.v.) -an attack upon a man in his own home.  Mb, Bb, Gb, Tjdb, Rb, HL, SdmL Conf, Kkb, Kgb, Gb, Äb, Jb, Bb, Kmb, Mb, Tjdb, Rb, SmL, UL passim, VmL passim, YVgL Kkb, Vs, Frb, Urb, Drb, Äb, Gb, Rlb, Tb, Jb, Kvab, Föb, Utgb, Add, ÄVgL Kkb, Md, Smb, Vs, Slb, Urb, Äb, Gb, Rlb, Jb, Kva, Tb, Fös, Föb, Lek Literally, 'meeting post'. Most probably one of the posts used to mark out the site of the assembly. In GL, stray cattle and ponies were to be tied up within sight of these, but a distance away, presumably so that they were not confused with animals belonging to the people attending the assembly. It is possible that the assembly was in a natural hollow and that by having the animals a distance away the men holding them could see the posts over the heads of others at the assembly, or alternatively that potential claimants could see the beasts.  KLNM s.v.v. arveskifte, brudköp, bröllop, festermål,konkurs, lejermål, morgongåva, mundr, vängåva, aegteskab , gift, heimanferð, heimangerð, hemfylghþ, hemfaerth, hemgaef, hindradagsgaef, morghongaef, munder, tilgaef, vingaef Refs: KLNM, s.v. medgift;Schlyter 1877, s.v.v Literally, 'maternal'. The meaning extended to cover the whole of the maternal side of the family, the maternal inheritance (as opposed to the paternal) and the ancestral land inherited from the mother, although the expression möþrinis jorþ in full does occur. Sometimes the same word was employed with more than one of these meanings in the same sentence. The noun in the possessive case was also used adjectivally to mean 'maternal', to relate to other specific parts of an inheritance, e.g. ancestral home, movables. An action classified as a niþingsvaerk was strongly condemned on moral grounds. Crimes which fell under the heading of niþingsvaerk varied according to time and place. Generally the term was reserved for the most egregious offenses, such as treason and breaking sworn truces, but it was applied to a variety of other offenses as well, such as destroying someone's household, piracy (both in ÄVgL) or killing someone on a king's ship (MLL IV 4). Penalties for committing a niþingsvaerk were usually severe. In the Danish laws the fine was forty marks for killing someone with whom one had previously made peace through compensation. In Norway and Iceland a níðingsverk was often marked as an unatonable crime (óbótamál, see urbotamal) and carried a penalty of property forfeiture and exile. There seem to have been some lesser offenses which were still considered niþingsvaerk but punished less severely, such as killing another man's domestic animals (JyL III.53) and slandering someone with defamatory language (ókvaeðisorð, see oqvaeþinsorþ; ÖgL Bb 38).

brother-in-law
In the Swedish laws such a crime required witnesses. It does not seem to figure in the laws of Svealand.
It has been suggested, albeit without any concrete evidence, that in earlier eras someone who committed a niþingsvaerk could be sacrificed to the gods as punishment.  : níðingsvíg, niþinger, skemmðarvíg, svik, urbotamal Refs: Almqvist 1965;CV s.v. níðingr;F s.v. níðingsverk;KLNM s.v. niddingsvaerk, sjörätt, straff;LexMA s.v. Strafe/Strafrecht;Orning 2008, 120 niþra (OGu)  In ONorw this term refers to a delegate from the fylki (q.v.) to the lögþing (see laghþing), whereas in OIce (Jó) it refers to a delegate, appointed by the valdsmaðr (see valdsmaþer) from the assembly district (þing) to the General Assembly (alþingi). In OSw, OGu and ODan it most often refers to a member of a naemd (q.v.), and occasionally a man appointed to another assignment (such as, in DL, making a request to the bishop from the householders). In YVgL, it refers to a local delegate dealing with certain legal matters, possibly responsible for the skiri (i.e. part of a haeraþ (q.v.)). The naemningaman in SdmL was possibly a member of the folklandsnaemd 'provincial panel' authorized to pass judgement besides the lawman (laghmaþer) and the judge (domari  : maþer, naemd, valdsmaþer Refs: CV s.v. nefndarmaðr;Einar Arnórsson 1945, 191−232;Fritzner s.v. nefndarmaðr;Hertzberg s.v. nefndr (nemdr) maðr;KLNM s.v.v. häradsdomare, nefndarmenn, nämnd, nämningaman, rettergang, sexman, syn;Nilsson 2012, 148−59;Schlyter s.v.v. naemdarmaþer, naemningaman;Åqvist 1989, 176 SkL 4,27,28,69,70,72,80,147,231,VSjL 32,72,73,75,77,82,86,87 Literally, 'unfree'. The word was used as an infrequent alternative to þrael (q.v.) and equivalent nouns, perhaps indicating a less permanent state of slavery (cf. hemahion). Such people had restricted rights and were subject to reduced compensation, but in certain circumstances they were treated as equals with free people. For instance in VmL, where a woman claims to have miscarried, the testimony of an unfree woman is as valid as that of a free woman. The same is true in the situation in which a woman claims that the child was born alive and this is challenged by relatives. In GL, the word is used in connection with assaults on unfree women, who received much lower compensation for rape and no compensation for assaults that did not result in injury. This word, which does not occur in the Danish or Swedish laws, is used in at least three distinct ways. Firstly, it means 'unholy' in a general sense, the opposite to helagher and cognates. Secondly (in GL only), it refers to working or weekdays as opposed to 'holy' days: Sundays, saints' days, church festivals, etc. Thirdly, it means unprotected in some way. In the senses 'of forfeit immunity' and 'unprotected', the word is related to the concepts of manhaelghþ, the right to personal protection under the law, and hemfriþer, the protection that one had in one's own home against attack. This is the implication behind the majority of usages in OIce and ONorw law and occurs when a person is suspected of a crime, but perhaps not yet condemned by trial, in which case their right to compensation was removed. In GL it is used to refer to the loss of protection suffered if someone refused to admit a legally correct house-search for stolen goods.
The search party could legally break down his door without fear of prosecution, even if no stolen goods were found. Similar rules, but without the use of the word ohelagher, are to be found in ÄVgL, YVgL and ÖgL. With regard to maintenance, it was possible for people to donate their property to an ecclesiastical institution and receive maintenance in return. In general, however, the duty of maintenance was incumbent on the kin and distributed among the kinsfolk for certain fixed periods, in OIce law (Grg) for 2 to 4 years, depending on the degree (nearness) of kinship; failure to fulfil this duty implied penalty. Alternatively, the OIce commune (hreppr) or the quarter (fjórðungr, see fiarþunger) was responsible, in the last resort the entire country.
OSw laws state that whoever was responsible for an omaghi and his property could not sell or trade in this property if it would be to the disfavour of the omaghi. The omaghi himself was not allowed to sell or trade in property unless his nearest kinsfolk consented. Only if he needed money for maintenance might his nearest kinsmen sell parts of his land. However, when he came of age (maghandi alder) he could reverse such bargains. As in the ONorw laws an omaghi was not considered to have full age and legal capacity. To kill him was a villainy (níðingsverk, see niþingsvaerk). He could not be outlawed and could not be sentenced to death if guilty of theft or murder. If guilty of theft and injury, he had to pay a smaller amount of compensation. He was not allowed to take an oath, neither could he marry, or pass on a message baton. The person responsible for an omaghi was his legal guardian.
ODan laws have no term corresponding exactly to omaghi in the sense of person under age. The nearest ones are flatføring (house-led person) and oreght man (a man who had no house or land and did not take part in military duty).
The condition of being an ovormaghi was termed (ON) : alder, maghandi, ómegð, oraþamaþr Refs: Hertzberg s.v. úmagi;KLNM s.v.v. alderdom, framfoersla, tilregnelighed, úmagi, vitne, vaerge I, aegteskab, aett;Tamm and Vogt 2016, 20 omynd (OSw)  The principal meaning is 'creature'. It frequently, however, seems to have referred to an inheritance in movables rather than in land. In this context, the word was always coupled with a word meaning the latter in the alliterative expression arf ok orf. Here arf is a neuter form of the masculine noun arver ('land; inheritance, birthright'). It has also been suggested that a different meaning of orf is involved in this expression, and that it is just an example of a parallelism, with orf containing its ON attested meaning, 'scythe handle', just indicating insignificant items of inheritance: an equivalent to the English 'goods and chattels'. Schlyter links the word to Anglo-Saxon words referring to livestock, 'creatures', to distinguish movables from real estate (the birthright land). A similar meaning attaches to fae, which can be used to mean 'money' amongst other things. In UL the expression is used in particular in connection with situations in which inheritance might be disputedposthumous children or those born out of wedlockso the expression could well indicate that the child concerned was to inherit both land and movables, and not just the latter. In legal texts a riddari most often refers to a title or rank equivalent to the Latin miles or eques. It can refer both to a soldier and to someone holding a title of knight, though the feudal system, including the conferral of knighthoods, was much less pronounced in the medieval Nordic countries than elsewhere in Europe.
In Norway the term comes into use during the latter part of the twelfth century. Certain high-ranking positions such as squire (ON skutilsveinn) conferred the title of riddari. In Sweden the title of riddari may have eventually replaced the more general class of haerrar ('lords'), though both terms appear together at least as late as SdmL. This has two distinct meanings. Firstly, it refers to the law in force during the levy, or maritime law in general; secondly to the law of the Roden (that coastal part of Uppland not included in the hundari (q.v.) of Tiundaland and Attundaland) as opposed to the law of the whole province or of the nation. The law in force at sea or during the levy was more stringent than that on land. During the levy, many crimes were punished as if they broke the King's Peace, even if similar crimes on land were not (UL Kgb). While men were taking part in the levy, any crime against them or amongst them was seen as a crime against the king himself.
The local law applicable to the Roden differed in respect of the sequence of events applicable to the referral of cases for appeal (UL Rb).
There are suggestions (by Hjärne and others) that the meanings of roþer should not be linked and that two different words are involved. law of Roden OSw UL För, Rb ( In the Danish law, JyL, it seems that the raettere was an official carrying out judgements. This meaning is considered by von See to be a borrowing from MLG, rather than a development of the meaning of the OSw word. It is, however, possible that, as inns and lodging houses became more common, the person with the function of a raettare took over duties more associated with law enforcement. Even later in the middle ages, after the period of the provincial laws, the word referred to a functionary on a large estate or over several estates, who collected the rent and passed it to the stewards of the landowners. In the Icelandic and Faroese laws, it is clear that this person is a justice or justiciary of some sort, which more closely equates with the meaning in JyL. The term also appears in later Norwegian legal texts that have not been excerpted. Here the person is defined as a 'court enforcer', a representative of the government (Hertzberg) or an 'appeal court judge' (Sunde of one's own free will OSw SdmL Kkb sialvasaet (OSw) siaelvasaet (OSw) noun Literally, 'self agreement'. This was a system of mutual conciliation, whereby the injured party agreed with the person who had injured him on a compensation sum, as if it were an accidental injury. They did this before witnesses at the assembly. There was in this case no payment to the king, via his administrator as was usual in other cases of injury and it was thus considered to be an important concession, applicable in DL and VmL, that does not appear in UL. In DL it is made clear that the mutual conciliation must be in place before the king's administrator becomes involved. Once he has raised the case, mutual conciliation cannot be invoked, and any conciliation or agreement (saet) must involve payment to the crown. In VmL further details of the system are given. The right is counterbalanced by an agreement to supply one ship each year to the levy. The fact that stress is laid on the arrangement in DL and VmL shows that it was an unusual concession. In Jó it is prohibited for cases to be settled between two parties privately, since it denies the fine to the king. Jó Mah 19 has the related adjective sjalfsettr, translated 'as a matter of course'. Failure to pay this compensation was grounds for outlawry. In one instance skaðabót refers specifically to losses incurred by sailors forced to jettison cargo (Grg Feþ 166). The significance of a skaðabót appears to have lessened in the later thirteenth century, when it refers to minor damages committed by grazing livestock (Js Lbb 13; Jó Llb 6; Seyð) and to driftwood (Jó Llb 61). In this sense it appears to resemble skaþagaeld (q.v.), a term employed in Swedish (HL) and Danish (ESjL, JyL) laws.  hundari, leþunger, skip, skipreiða, manngerð, skipen Refs: Bagge 2010, 75;Hafström 1949, 18-20, 139-44 and passim;Helle 2001, 35, 77-78, 163-65, 168, 171, 174-75;Hertzberg 1895, s.v. skipreiða;Hobaek 2013:5, 64-75;KLNM s.v.v. leidang, skipreide, skeppslag;Robberstad 1981, 318-20, 390-92, 394, 399-401;Ødegaard 2013:5, 48  should be baptized as soon as possible. This was emphasized in the provincial laws, except in Norway. The Norwegian baptismal terms do not correspond to any of these traditions, perhaps because the baptismal terms follow the gagnfasta (see fasta).
In baptism, a spiritual relationship (cognatio spiritualis) was established through godfathers and godmothers. Baptism was regarded as the child's second and spiritual birth, and created a spiritual kinship between the actors involved in the ceremony, with significant consequences: They were forbidden to marry one another in order to prevent sexual relations among spiritual kin, which were regarded as a kind of incest (see Lynch 1998, 17). The concept of spiritual kinship originated in the Eastern Church and was introduced to the western parts of Europe in the early Middle Ages. baptism OIce Grg Klþ 1 Feþ 144 Tíg 261, Jó HT 1, KRA 11, ONorw BorgL 2.3, FrL KrbA 3, GuL Krb Refs: Helle 2001, 184, 190-91;KLNM s.v.v. dåp, fadder, katekes och katekisation, olja och oljeinvigning, primsigning, profetia, påsken;Landro 2010, 77−81;Lynch 1998, 17;Robberstad 1981, 332 Literally, 'child set in the lap', translated as 'adopted or legitimized child'. This act was a sign of formal adoption, particularly of children born before the marriage of a couple, in acknowledgement that the husband accepted the wife's pre-existing child as his own. This was the case even if there had been an intervening marriage to other parties. In UL, a further situation is envisaged in which a couple were engaged and the man dies before a marriage takes place. With general acceptance or with appropriate witnesses to testify to the betrothal, the children would be accepted as the legitimate heirs to the dead man. In GL, a similar procedure is described but relating to the adoption by a grandfather of children whose own father had died. In Norway the king's marshal, the stallari, Medieval Lat. comes stabuli ('head of the horse-stable'), was originally in charge of the king's stables. He was the highest ranked officer of the royal bodyguard (hirð) and the king's spokesman there and at the assembly. According to Norwegian provincial laws (GuL ch. 185, FtL Mhb, ch. 60) he had the same rank and legal status as a lendr maðr (see laender). In Sweden, the stallari was a prominent member of the retinue of other highly ranked persons, such as, e.g., bishops, with varying functions. verb Literally 'to seek' and etymologically derived from the noun sak '(legal) case'. Refers to the initiation of a legal procedure, typically by the injured party although for instance OSw UL Rb discusses the rights of a (public) prosecutor (laensmaþer) to sökia, which can be translated as e.g. 'to have a case', 'to prosecute', 'to pursue (a case)', 'to take action (against)'. It might also refer to preceding or complementary actions and be translated as 'to accuse', 'to call', 'to summon'. It has been suggested that a characteristic trait in relation to kaera (another verb for initiating and pursuing a legal procedure) is that sökia centres on the injured party's request for justice. This might be reflected in translations such as 'to demand', with a stronger focus on the outcome of the procedure, e.g. 'to distrain', 'to exact', 'to extract', 'to recover', often in constructions with a preposition or an adverb (particle The vatubanda was a provisional 'legally witnessed or testified safety circle', later replaced by a more permanent one drawn up during the general period of peace following Easter. Of the medieval Nordic provincial laws, this word occurs only in GL. Kock suggests a relationship with Norwegian våtta, 'take notice of; suffice', giving vatubanda as 'a circle of safety that one took notice of', or which 'sufficed for the time being'. Wessén thinks that a more likely root is a Gutnish vatta or vata f. with a meaning related to Old Swedish vat, vatt f., 'the twelve men collectively swearing an oath; the oath itself' or vatter, vaetti m., 'one of the twelve witness; the witness statement itself'. This may be compared to the expressions vattum minum and vattum sinum in ÄVgL (Md 1 and 3, Gb 7) and YVgL (Kkb 3 and Tb 1 A rope or cord attached to stakes, which surrounded certain courts, such as the lögrétta 'Law Council' at an assembly. A description of the vébönd using ropes and hazel poles is given in Egils saga. Most likely considered a hallowed area, as the first element (ON vé, see vi) was used throughout the North to indicate pre-Christian holy grounds. The tradition is thought to be very old, as a similar practice is known from the eighth-century Lex Ribuaria.
It was the duty of the ármaðr (q.v.) (FrL Tfb 2) or the lögmaðr (see laghmaþer) (Js Þfb 3) to set up the vébönd at assemblies. The term also appears in Magnus Lagabaetr's Bylov, where it is used in Norwegian guild houses, and in the Faroese Hundabraevið. In Hirðskrá 38 it is stated that the king's banner was to be placed within a vébönd at musters. The context in which vi, ON vé, is used in GL is as one of five objects of the verb heta (OGu haita), 'pray to' and in GS as one of the five objects of the verb troþa, 'believe in'. The other objects of these verbs are 'groves and grave howes, ancient sites and heathen idols'. This suggests that, at least in Gotland, it might have meant something more concrete and specific than simply a 'holy place', but no assumptions can be made from any archaeological finds yet made. It seems to have referred to a place in which pagan sacrifices were conducted, sometimes specifically to one god, although not all place-names containing the element vi, either as a prefix or suffix, can be associated with that meaning. Many seem to derive from viþer, 'wood'. The etymological relationship between vi and the town name Visby is debatable and references in Peel 2015 discuss this. It appears that there was a place-name Vi at the time that GS was written, since it is referred to in one of the story elements, but there are arguments for the name referring to a natural feature of the land, rather than its being a 'holy place'.