Though a slave had been made free, he could not leave the fylki without permission.
“If a freedman leaves the fylki without the permission of his master, and obtains for himself property, his lord should go after him with witnesses. If he is willing to return, all is well; if not, his lord may by the witnesses prove that he is his freedman, and bring him back to his old place, bound or not, as he chooses, and seat him where he sat before” (Gulathing’s Law, 67).
“When a thrall or bondmaid pays his sum of redemption they shall be taken to the church, a book laid on their heads, and freedom given to them. They shall work a twelvemonth (xii manad) for their master” (Gulath., 61).
Slaves and freedmen who had made their freedom-ale were limited in their bargains.
“A pauper must not make or have power over any bargain. Nor must a thrall, except only about his knife. Also a freedman who has not made his freedom-ale must not make a bargain higher than an ‘ortug’” (Gulath., 56).
A thrall who proved that he had for twenty years lived and acted as a free man without any one during that time having made any objection thereto, was, according to law, a free man, even if no freedom-ale or formal liberation had taken place.
“If a thrall goes about like a free man for 20 winters or more and no one hurts him or his bargains or his marriage out of the fylki or in the fylki, then he is free if he wants to be called free” (Gulath., 61).
In order to replenish the waste of war, we find that thralls were allowed to follow their masters on expeditions, and that they could win their liberty by bravery.
“If they meet a host and fight, and a thrall slays a man, then he is free, though he was a thrall before” (Gulathing’s Law, 312).
“A bondi is not allowed to send his paid servant into a levy instead of himself, unless the steersman (of the ship) consents to it; for, if a servant comes from the harbour for the bondi, he shall redeem himself from flogging. If a thrall comes in a levy instead of his master, the king may take him if he wants to, or pronounce him free in relation to every man” (Jutland Law, iii. 2).