They made and unmade the laws in the Thing, accepted or deposed the men who were to rule or ruled over them. In them lay the strength and power of the country; from their earliest youth we find them practising all kinds of athletic games, fitting themselves to be warriors on land and sea.
The Haulld seems to have been a higher grade of bondi, on account of the nature of the odal which he had inherited from his father and mother, and which his forefathers had owned before them. The haulld and the bondi were the only classes who could be regarded as hereditary; they formed an integral part of the herad, and were the representatives of all that was powerful and influential in the land. Throughout the whole Northern literature we see their power when assembled in the Thing.
The desire to show this power caused chiefs and rich bœndr to surround themselves with a retinue of free and warlike men.
“When Ólaf Tryggvason ruled over Norway, he gave his brother-in-law Erling one half of the land-rents, and one half of all the revenues between Lidandisnes (Lindesnœs) and Sogn. Ólaf married his other sister to Rögnvald Jarl Úlfsson, who ruled long over Western Gautland. Rögnvald’s father Úlf was the brother of Sigrid the Proud, mother of Ólaf King of Sweden. Eirik Jarl did not like Erling to have so much power, and took to himself all the possessions which King Ólaf had granted to Erling; but Erling continued to take all the land-dues in Rogaland, and the inhabitants often paid them twice to him. Little did the Jarl get of the fines, for the sýslumenn (tax-gatherers) could not remain there. The Jarl never went to veizlas (entertainments, feasts) there unless he had many men with him.
“Eirik did not dare to fight against Erling, for he had many and mighty kinsmen, and was powerful and popular. He also constantly had with him as many men as a king’s bodyguard. Erling was often on warfare during the summer, and won property, for he kept up in the same manner his liberality and high living, though he had smaller and less revenues than in the days of King Ólaf” (St. Ólaf’s Saga, 21).
“Thorstein Thorskabit became a most powerful man; he always had with him sixty free men” (Eyrbyggja Saga, ii.).
The King.—Kon[[487]] in the old Northern tongue meant a man of high birth; in the Rigsmál, the word is konung.
All descendants of Rig[[488]] retained the name of konung. Dyggvi, who was the first of the Ynglings, assumed this title, and later arose a class of chiefs to whom the name of konung was applied.
“His son Dyggvi then ruled the lands and of him is nothing told except that he died of sickness.... The mother of Dyggvi was Drótt, the daughter of King Danp, the son of Rig, who was the first that was called king (konung) in the Danish tongue; his kinsman always afterwards held the king’s name to be the highest name of honour. Dyggvi was the first of his family who was called king.
“Before, they (the family) were called dróttnar (lords) and their wives dróttningar and the hird was called drótt. Each one of them was called Yngvi all his life and all together they were called Ynglingar. Drótt the drottning (queen) was the sister of Dan the Proud, after whom Danmörk (Denmark) is named” (Ynglinga, c. 20).