The Sagas of the Icelanders

by Smilely, Jane

  The Althing served not only as a general or national assembly (which is what its name means), but also as the main festival and social gathering of the year, where people exchanged stories and news, renewed acquaintance with old friends and relatives, and the like. Originally it was inaugurated (with a pagan ceremony) by the leading godi (allsherjargodi) who was a descendant of the first settler Ingolf Arnarson, in the tenth week of summer. Early in the eleventh century the opening day was changed to the Thursday of the eleventh week of summer (18–24 June). Legislative authority at the Althing was in the hands of the Law Council, while there were two levels of judiciary, the Quarter Courts and the Fifth Court.

  The Law Council was originally comprised of the thirty-six godis, along with two thingmen for each, and the Lawspeaker, who was the highest authority in the Commonwealth, elected by the Law Council for a term of three years. It was the duty of the Lawspeaker to recite the entire procedures of the assembly and one-third of the laws of the country every year. He presided over the meetings of the Law Council and ruled on points of legal interpretation.

  Quarter Courts, established at the Althing around 965, evolved from earlier regional Spring Assemblies, probably panels of nine men, which had dealt with cases involving people from the same quarter. Three new godords were created in the north when the Quarter Courts were set up. The godis appointed thirty-six men to the Quarter Court and their decisions had to be unanimous.

  Around 1005, the Fifth Court was established as a kind of court of appeal to hear cases which were unresolved by the Quarter Courts. The godis appointed forty-eight members to the Fifth Court, and the two sides in each case were allowed to reject six each. A simple majority among the remaining thirty-six decided the outcome, and lots were drawn in the event of a tie. With the creation of the Fifth Court, the number of godis was increased correspondingly, and with their two thingmen each and the Lawspeaker, the Law Council was then comprised of 145 people in all.

  The Althing was inaugurated or consecrated by the leading godi and dissolved by Weapon Taking. ‘Weapon Taking is when a Thing is dismissed and the people all ride home again’, The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi states, referring to the idea that the persons attending the assembly were supposed to be unarmed and settle their affairs peacefully; presumably the shedding of blood would have violated not only the authority of the law but also, originally at least, the sanctity of the site.

  A confiscation court was appointed by a godi to seize and share out the property of a man who had been found guilty. It was supposed to meet within an arrow-shot (a specific distance, perhaps 200 fathoms) from the limits of the guilty man’s farm. The procedure is described in The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi. ‘No man is a full outlaw as long as the confiscation court has not been held, and that has to take place at his home It must be done fourteen days after Weapon Taking,’ says Thorgeir Thjostarsson to Sam when they prepare to ride away from the Althing after Hrafnkel has been sentenced to full outlawry. They go to Hrafnkel’s farm, capture him and his men, and tie them up. Then Sam goes ‘to a safe place an arrow-shot away from the farm’ to carry out the confiscation court, ‘on some rocky knoll where there is neither a ploughed field nor a meadow’. Not all confiscation courts succeeded in their task, because force sometimes had to be shown if not exerted. Some men who had been sentenced to outlawry remained on their property with a band of followers to defend it, and others made a quick getaway, taking everything with them that they could.

  Legal disputes feature prominently in The Sagas of Icelanders, and the prosecution and defence of a case followed clearly defined procedures. Cases were prepared locally some time before the Thing, and could be dismissed there if they were technically flawed. Preparation generally took one of two forms: a panel of neighbours could be called, comprised of five or nine people who lived near the scene of the incident or the home of the accused, to testify to what had happened; or a party could go to the home of the accused to summons him during the Summons Days, two weeks before the Spring Assembly but three or four weeks before the Althing.

  The accused generally did not attend the assembly, but was defended by someone, who called witnesses and was entitled to disqualify members of the panel. Panels did not adjudicate the details and facts of the case in the modern sense, but only determined whether the incident had taken place. The case was then summed up and a ruling passed on it by the court.

  Penalties depended upon the seriousness of the case and took the form of either monetary compensation or outlawry. Lesser outlawry lasted for three years, while full outlawry meant that a man must not be fed or helped and was tantamount to a death sentence. A confiscation court would seize the belongings of a man outlawed for three years or life.

  Cases were often settled without going through this complex court procedure: by arbitration, a ruling from a third party who was accepted by both sides, or by self-judgement by either of the parties involved in the case. Duels were another method. They originally took place on small islands and proceeded according to strict rules. The duel features in a number of sagas but was formally banned in Iceland in 1006. Mainland Scandinavian Vikings, berserks and troublemakers are often depicted in the sagas as terrorizing peaceful farmers by challenging them to duels for their wives or daughters.

  OLD ICELANDIC YEAR AND DAY

  Months of the Year and Important Dates

  In medieval Scandinavia, ‘summer’ lasted approximately from April to October, ‘winter’ approximately from October to April. In some cases, there were several different names for the old lunar months, and only one of the names has been chosen for this table. The original Icelandic names are given in italics.

  * * *

  Important Dates Old Icelandic Lunar Months Western Calendar

  * * *

  Early days of summer (Sumarmdl)

  * * *

  Harpa-month (Harpa) April

  * * *

  Spring Assemblies take place at the end of the fourth week of summer

  * * *

  Lamb-fold-time (Stekkn’5) May

  * * *

  * * *

  Sun-month (Solmdnudur) June

  * * *

  Moving Days (Fardagar)

  * * *

  Midsummer (MiSsumar) July

  * * *

  Althing is held when ten weeks of summer have passed

  * * *

  Hay-time (Heyannir) August

  * * *

  Autumn Meeting takes place no later than eight weeks before the end of summer

  * * *

  Harvest-month (HaustmdnuSur) September

  * * *

  * * *

  Slaughtering-month (Gormdnudur) October

  * * *

  Winter Nights (Veturnatur)

  * * *

  Ylir (Ylir) November

  * * *

  Yule (M)

  * * *

  Ram-month (Hriitmdnudur) December

  * * *

  * * *

  Thorri-month ( porri) January

  * * *

  * * *

  Goa-month (Gód) February

  * * *

  * * *

  Last month of winter (Einmdnudur) March

  * * *

  Hours of the Day

  6 a.m.

  rismdl/ midur morgunn

  hour of rising/mid-morning

  9 a.m.

  dagmdl

  breakfast time

  12 (noon)

  hddegi/middegi

  midday/noon

  3 p.m.

  undorm/nón

  mid-afternoon

  6 p.m.

  midur afiann

  mid-evening

  9 p.m.

  ndttmdl

  night-meal

  12 (midnight)

  elding/ótta

  last part of the night

  Glossary

  The Icelandic term is printed in italics after the head-word, with modern spelling. See also tables on dates and times in Old
Icelandic Year and Day.

  Althing

  alpingi: General assembly. See Introduction, pp. xlvi-xlvii and ‘Social and Political Structure’.

  arch of raised turf

  jariarmen: In order to confirm sworn brotherhood, the participants had to mix their blood and walk under an arch of raised turf: ‘A long piece of sod was cut from a grassy field but the ends left uncut. It was raised up into an arch, under which the person carrying out the ordeal had to pass’ (The Saga of the People of Laxardal, ch. 18).

  Autumn Meeting

  leid, leidarping: Held after the Althing and generally lasting one or two days at the end of July or beginning of August. Proceedings and decisions from the Althing were announced at the Autumn Meeting, which had no judicial role.

  ball game

  knattleiiur: A game played with a hard ball and a bat, possibly similar to the Gaelic game known as hurling, which is still played in Scotland and Ireland. The exact rules, however, are uncertain. See, for example, the description of the game in Gisli Sursson’s Saga, chs. 15 and 18.

  bat

  knattdrepa, knatttré: See ball game.

  bed closet

  hvílugólf, lokrekkja, lokhvila, lokrekkjugólf: A private sleeping area used by the heads of better-off households. The closet was partitioned off from the rest of the house, and had a door that was secured from the inside. (See illustration in ‘The Farm’.)

  berserk

  berserkur: (Literally ‘bear-shirt’). A man who slipped or deliberately worked himself into an animal-like frenzy, which hugely increased his strength and made him apparently immune to the effect of blows from weapons. The berserks are paradoxical figures, prized as warriors and evidently regarded as having supernatural powers (perhaps bestowed on them by Odin, the god of warriors), but in the sagas, this mysticism is beginning to wear off. They are often presented as stock figures, generally bullies who are none too bright, and when heroes do away with them, there is usually little regret, and a great deal of local relief. Closely related to the original concept of the berserk (implied by its literal meaning) are the shape-shifters.

  black

  Often used here to translate blár, which in modern Icelandic means only ‘blue’.

  bloody wound

  dverki: Almost always used in a legal sense, that is with regard to a visible, most likely bloody wound, which could result in legal actions for compensation, or some more drastic proceedings like the taking of revenge.

  board game

  tafl: Tafl probably often refers to chess which had plainly reached Scandinavia before the twelfth century. However, in certain cases it might also refer to another board game known as bnefatafl. The rules of the latter game are uncertain, even though we know what the boards looked like.

  booth

  búd: A temporary dwelling used by those who attended the various assemblies. Structurally, it seems to have involved permanent walls which were covered by a tent-like roof, probably made of cloth.

  bride-price

  mundur: In formal terms, this was the amount that the prospective husband’s family gave to the prospective wife’s family at the wedding. According to Icelandic law this was the personal property of the wife. See also dowry.

  compensation

  manngjold, bietur: Penalties imposed by the courts were of three main kinds: awards of compensation in cash; sentences of lesser outlawry, which could be lessened or dropped by the payment of compensation; and sentences of full outlawry with no chance of being compounded. In certain cases, a man’s right to immediate vengeance was recognized, but for many offences compensation was the fixed legal penalty and the injured party had little choice but to accept the settlement offered by the court, an arbitrator or a man who had been given the right to self-judgement (sjdlfdtemi). It was certainly legal to put pressure on the guilty party to pay. Neither court verdicts nor legislation, nor even the constitutional arrangements, had any coercive power behind them other than the free initiative of individual chieftains with their armed following.

  confiscation court

  ferdnsdomur: See ‘Social and Political Structure’.

  cross-bench

  pallur, pverpallur: A raised platform, or bench at the inner end of the main room, where women were usually seated.

  directions

  austur/vestur/noriur/suiur (east/west/north/south): These directional terms are used in a very wide sense in the sagas; they are largely dependent on context, and they cannot always be trusted to reflect compass directions. Internationally, ‘the east’ generally refers to the countries to the east and south-east of Iceland, and although ‘eastern’ usually refers to a Norwegian, it can also apply to a Swede (especially since the concept of nationality was still not entirely clear when the sagas were being written), and might even be used for a person who has picked up Russian habits. ‘The west’, or to ‘go west’, tends to refer to Ireland and what are now the British Isles, but might even refer to lands even farther afield; the point of orientation is west of Norway. When confined to Iceland, directional terms sometimes refer to the quarter to which a person is travelling, e.g. a man going to the Althing from the east of the country might be said to be going ‘south’ rather than the geographically more accurate ‘west’, and a person going home to the West Fjords from the Althing is said to be going ‘west’ rather than ‘north’.

  dis

  dís, pl. disir: These appear to have been high-ranking female guardian spirits that watched over farms, families and, occasionally, individuals. They have certain traits in common with fetches and valkyries, but were seen as being much more powerful, almost like minor local deities, since a sacrifice was made to them during the Winter Nights every year.

  dowry

  heimanfylgja: Literally ‘that which accompanies the bride from her home’. This was the amount of money (or land) that a bride’s father contributed at her wedding. Like the bride-price, it remained legally her property. However, the husband controlled the couple’s financial affairs and was responsible for the use to which both these assets were put.

  drapa

  drdpa: A heroic, laudatory poem, usually in the complicated metre preferred by the Icelandic poets. Such poems were in fashion between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. They were usually composed in honour of kings, earls and other prominent men; or they might be directed towards a loved one, composed in memory of the deceased or in relation to some religious matter. A drapa usually consisted of three parts: an introduction, a middle section including one or more refrains, and a conclusion. It was usually clearly distinguished from the flokk, which tended to be shorter, less laudatory and without refrains (see The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue ch. 9). For an example of a drapa, see Egil’s Saga, ch. 61.

  duel

  hólmganga: Used for a formally organized duel, literally meaning ‘going to the island’. This is probably because the area prescribed for the fight formed a small ‘island’ with clearly defined boundaries which separated the action from the outside world; it might also refer to the fact that small islands were originally favoured sites for duels. The rules included that the two duellists slashed at each other alternately, the seconds protecting the principal fighters with shields. Shields hacked to pieces could be replaced by up to three shields on either side. If blood was shed, the fight could be ended and the wounded man could buy himself off with a compensation payment of three marks of silver, either on the spot or later. The rules are stated in detail in Kormak’s Saga:

  The duelling laws had it that the cloak was to be five ells square, with loops at the corners, and pegs had to be put down there of the kind that had a head at one end. They were called tarses, and he who made the preparations was to approach the tarses in such a way that he could see the sky between his legs while grasping his ear lobes with the invocation that has since been used again in the sacrifice known as the tarse-sacrifice. There were to be three spaces marked out all round the cloak, each a foot in breadth, and outside the mar
ked spaces there should be four strings, named hazel poles; what you had was a hazel-poled stretch of ground, when that was done. You were supposed to have three shields, but when they were used up, you were to go on to the cloak, even if you had withdrawn from it before, and from then on you were supposed to protect yourself with weapons. He who was challenged had to strike. If one of the two was wounded in such a way that blood fell on to the cloak, there was no obligation to continue fighting. If someone stepped with just one foot outside the hazel poles, he was said to be retreating, or to be running if he did so with both. There would be a man to hold the shield for each one of the two fighting. He who was the more wounded of the two was to release himself by paying duel ransom, to the tune of three marks of silver. (Ch. 10).