“Rögnvald jarl came one night to the bœr of Thorgnýr the lawman.... There were many outside, who received him well, and took charge of his horses and harness. The jarl went into the hall, which was full of men. In the high-seat there sat an old man. Björn (King Olaf’s marshal) and the others had never seen a man so tall or so stout before; his beard was so long that it lay on his knees and covered his whole breast; he was handsome, and looked like a high-born man. The jarl walked up and saluted him. Thorgnýr welcomed him, and told him to go to the seat where he was used to sit, and the jarl sat down opposite Thorgnýr. It was some nights before the jarl told his errand; he asked Thorgnýr to go with him into the speech-room, and Björn and his men followed him there. The jarl began by relating how Olaf Norway’s king had sent men in order to make peace; he spoke long of what troubles the war with Norway caused to the Vest-gautar, and how he had promised to follow these envoys to the King of Sweden, who disliked the matter so strongly that no one dare broach it. ‘Now, foster-father,’ said the jarl, ‘I do not trust myself alone in this matter; therefore I come to thee, and expect thy good advice and help.’ When the jarl had ended his speech Thorgnýr was silent for a while, and then answered: ‘You behave strangely; you like to have the high name of jarl, and yet you know no expedient when you get into some difficulty. Why didst thou not remember, before promising this journey, that thou hast not power to speak against King Olaf. It seems to me more worthy to be reckoned among bœndr and be free in one’s speech, though the king be present. I will go to the Upsala Thing, and give thee such help that thou shalt say without fear before the king what thou likest.’ The jarl thanked him for this promise, and remained with Thorgnýr and rode with him to the Thing. A great crowd was with King Olaf, who was with his bodyguard. The first day, when the Thing began, King Olaf sat on a chair, and around him stood his bodyguard. In another place sat Rögnvald jarl and Thorgnýr, and in front of them the jarl’s guard and Thorgnýr’s troop of húskarlar (house carls); behind the chair stood a crowd of bœndr in a circle. Some even went up on the hills and mounds to listen. When the king had made his customary speech at the Thing, Björn Stallari rose near the jarl’s seat and said aloud: ‘King Olaf sent me hither to say that he offers the King of Sweden reconciliation, and the division of land which of old existed between Norway and Sweden.’ He spoke so loudly that the King of Sweden heard it distinctly. At first, when the King of Sweden heard King Olaf of Norway named, he thought he came on some errand of his own; but when he heard of reconciliation and division of land between Sweden and Norway he started up and shouted loudly that this man should be silent; so Björn sat down. When he could get a hearing, the jarl arose and spoke of King Olaf the Stout’s message and offer of reconciliation to Olaf, King of Sweden. He said that the Vestr Gautar asked that reconciliation should be made with Norway’s king; he enumerated every difficulty which the Vestr Gautar had on hand because they missed all those things from Norway which they needed in order to live well, and on the other hand were exposed to attacks and plundering if the Norway king should gather a host and make war on them. He added that Olaf, Norway’s king, had sent men thither to ask for the king’s daughter Ingigerd. After the jarl had finished speaking, Olaf, King of Sweden rose and answered that he highly disliked the reconciliation; he reproached the jarl very greatly for his boldness, as he had made truce and peace with the stout man (King Olaf) and made friends with him. He added that he had proved traitor to him, and he would deserve to be driven from the realm, and that all this was caused by the urging of his wife Ingibjörg, and that it had been most unwise to marry such a woman for love: he spoke a long time and severely, and again turned his reproach against Olaf the Stout and sat down, and there was silence for some time. Then rose Thorgnýr, and when he stood up all the bœndr, who before had been sitting, rose, and all the rest pressed forward, wanting to listen to what he said. At first there was great tumult and clashing of weapons in the crowd, but when a hearing was got, Thorgnýr said: ‘The temper of the King of Sweden is not what it has been. Thorgnýr, my grandfather, remembered Eirik Emund’s son, Uppsala-king, and said of him, that while he was at his most active age he had a levy every summer and went to various lands, and subjected Finnland and Kirjálaland, Eistland and Kúrland, and a great part of the eastern lands, where still may be seen the earth-forts and other great works that he made; yet he was not so proud that he would not listen to men if they wished to speak to him. My father, Thorgnýr, was with King Björn a long time, and knew his habits. During his time his realm stood with great strength and with no abatement; and he was easy to deal with by his friends. I can remember King Eirik the Victorious, and was with him on many war-journeys; he increased the Swedish realm, and defended it manfully, and it was easy for us to give him advice. But this king now allows no man to be so bold as to talk to him except only what he wants, and uses he thereto all his power, and permits his tributaries to fall away from him from lack of strength and courage. He would hold Norway’s realm subject to himself, though no King of Sweden has before desired this, and thereby causes trouble to many a man. Now this is the will of us bœndr, that thou, King Olaf, should make reconciliation with Olaf the Stout, and marry thy daughter Ingigerd to him. If thou wilt win back to thyself those realms in the east which thy kinsmen and forefathers once owned, we will all follow thee thither. But if thou wilt not do what we tell thee, we will attack and slay thee, and not endure from thee trouble and lawlessness: our forefathers have done the same, they threw five kings down into a well, at the Múla-Thing, who before had been as full of overbearing as thou hast been with us. Tell us now quickly which choice thou wilt make.’ Then the multitude clashed their weapons. The king arose, and said that he wanted everything to be as the bœndr wished, for thus had all Kings of Sweden acted. At this the grumblings of the bœndr ceased. The chiefs, the king, the jarl and Thorgnýr talked together, and then made peace and reconciliation on behalf of the King of Sweden, according to the proposal of Norway’s king. It was resolved at that Thing that Olaf’s daughter Ingigerd should be married to Olaf Haraldsson, and the king delivered into the jarl’s hands the power to betroth her, and gave to him the charge of the marriage”[[541]] (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 79–81).
CHAPTER XL.
INDEMNITY, WEREGILD.
The freeman’s right to peace—Inviolability of body and honour—Indemnity for murder—Inequality of freemen’s personal rights—Computation of indemnity—Lists of the amount paid or received—The rights of Icelanders trading in Norway—Indemnity for wounds—Laws relating to indemnity—Slander—Indemnity in kind.
Every freeman was fridheilag (peace-holy), unless he had forfeited his right to peace. This sacredness of person meant both inviolability of body and honour: for every breach of this, in deed or word, he could claim a redress consisting of a certain amount of money, which was his rétt.
“It is first in our mannhelgi (man-holiness) that every man in the country shall be peace-holy in and out of the country” (Frostath., iv. 1).
Blood feuds and revenge were of such common occurrence in these days, that throughout the Sagas there is a great mass of literature which deals with the customs and laws regulating the indemnity for murder.
As every individual, so every family had its rétt. This was the so-called manngjöld, or indemnity due to the family as a redress for the slaying of one of its members. This view of the family, which is very old, namely, that it was its right and duty to avenge the slaying of one of its members on the slayer or his family, was the law of the land, and the weregild (indemnity) was equivalent to buying off the family revenge. It was really the price of the dead man, which varied according to his rétt when living.
If the slayer died before paying the weregild, his heir had to pay it.
From the laws we find that the rétt, or personal rights of every freeman, were not equal. People were divided into classes, as we have seen, and it was according to his rank that a man had to pay or receive weregild.
The entire family weregild was computed in gold, one[[542]] mark of gold being reckoned as eight marks of silver in weight. Six marks of gold seem to have been the family weregild for a haulld, and that of the other classes was fixed in proportion.