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. CHAPTER
XL. INDEMNITY, WEREGILD. from "The Viking Age," by Paul B. Du Chaillu, vol. 1, p. 544-552
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 1 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. A general rule
sečms to have prevailed for the computation of the
rétt in all upper classes, which was reckoned
in silver, or 12 ells of vadmal for every eyrir. In the lower classes it was
reckoned in the so-called lögeyrir (legal
eyrir), i.e. about 12 feet of vadmal for every
eyrir. Some rétts were hereditary, and a wife enjoyed the same rétt as her husband received, and retained it even during
widowhood. "This is about
the rights of women. Every man has full rétt on behalf
of his wife. Three marks are due to a haulld if his
wife is struck. "A widow shall
have her rétt herself, as high a rétt as that of her late husband, and whoever she wishes
shall claim it" (Frostath., x. 37).
In Gulathing's Law the haulld is the
centre of the division; his rétt is three marks.
"A haulld shall get as his full rétt
three marks. The rétt of every man upward (of higher
rank) from the haulld shall increase by a third and
decrease downwards" (Frostath., x. 34).
The amount to
be paid or received by each degree of a family was entirely independent of the
number of members of such degree. In the computation the following rules were
chiefly followed: -- The weregild on both sides
embraced the family within the same degrees of the slain and the slayer, each
individual degree on the side of the slayer paying weregild to the corresponding one in the family of the
slain; the first receiver of weregild was the son of
the slain, or, if he was not alive, the father. "The first indemnity (baug) 2 is called head-indemnity. That is
ten marks. "The second indemnity is called
brother's indemnity. That is five marks, or sixteen cows. The third is the
indemnity of the brdrung (first cousin). That is four
marks, or half an eyrir less than thirteen cows" (Gulath., 219).
The sum paid
was the same whether the receiver was one or more. The amount paid by each
degree became smaller in proportion as the kinship became more distant. The
degrees of kinship embraced in the weregild were
always considered as existing on both sides. If they in reality did not exist,
the slayer had to pay, and the next of kin on the other
side to receive, for the missing degree. "The slayer shall pay the
head-indemnity to the son of the dead. The brother of the slayer shall pay
indemnity to the brother of the dead if he is found; otherwise the slayer shall
pay it. The brdrung of the slayer shall pay to the
brdrung of the dead brdrung-indemnity if he is found; otherwise the slayer
shall pay it" (Gulath., 222). The saktal was a list of the amount to be paid or
received by every degree in the weregild. Two or three
of these lists are found in the Gulathing's Law, and
one in the Frostathing's Law. The nearest
kinswomen on both sides, mother, daughter, sister and
wife, paid and received a certain gift called Kvenngjöf. Otherwise a woman was never
reckoned as payer or payee, unless she were sole heir.
But the moment she was married her rights in this respect passed over to her
nearest male relative. "A mark is a woman's kvenngjöf. Four women shall receive it if they are found;
the mother of the slain man, his daughter, his sister, and his wife. Each of
them receives two aurar if they all exist. Wherever
they are not found the son of the slain man shall receive it. If all the women
are missing, the slayer shall take this mark and pay it to the son of the slain.
If one of the women is missing, the son of the slain shall receive two aurar, and if two are missing, half a mark, and if all are
missing, one mark" (Gulath., 221).
The Gulathing's Law differs from the Frostathing's Law only in one point, viz., the last divides the bondi into
two classes, the árborinn-man and the
reksthegn. 3 The law seems to mean in the case
of the latter a man who was not odal-born, yet could
point to four generations of freemen on his father's side; but the difference
between the two is not told. The Icelanders
when trading or staying in All other
foreigners had the rétt of a bondi unless they could prove by witness a higher one.
"A freedman (leysingi) owns six aurar as
single rétt, and his son a mark as single rétt. A bondi owns 12 aurar as single rétt, a haulld three marks, a lendrman and a stallarii (marshal) six marks, the jarl and the
bishop 12 marks. The son of a lendrman shall
get the rétt of a haulld if
he gets no land. . . . . Icelanders have the rétt of a
haulld while they are on trading journeys, until they
have been here three winters and lived here. Then they have the rétt which witnesses prove. All other foreigners who come to
this country have the rétt of a bondi unless they prove by witnesses that they have a higher
rétt" (Gulath., 200).
The
inhabitants of towns all enjoyed the same rétt, which
was three marks. "It is the law that all men have an
equal rétt in the town (namely) the rétt of a baulld, 3 marks, the
lendrman as well as the freedman who has made his
freedom-ale" (Bjarkeyjar Law, 97).
The lendir-menn were regarded as a higher division of the
haulld; and although the son of the lendr-man, as such, had most hopes of receiving such a
dignity, and until his fortieth year enjoyed the same rétt as his father, yet, in case he had not before that time
really received his appointment as lendrman, he
belonged thenceforth only to the class of the haulld,
and enjoyed only the rétt of the latter.
The king's
ármenn enjoyed half a haulld's rétt, or the same as a
bondi. With the
introduction of Christianity we find that the rétt of
a bishop was equal to that of a jarl. The jarl and bishop had the double rétt of a lendr-man, 12 marks
each; the stallari (marshal of the king) had
the rétt of a lendr-man. The
priest, the skutilsvein (page), the goldsmith
of the king, and those who steered his trade-ships, had that of a haulld. In all these cases the children only inherited the
rétt which belonged to their father at their birth.
Indemnity paid
for wounds varied according to the rétt of the man who
gave the wound. For wounds in
the face, or on places where hair or clothes did not hide the cicatrice, an additional indemnity was paid called áljóseyrir (indemnity for looking more ugly); for
cutting and burning, an additional indemnity which was called granbragds-eyrir (grön = lip), which meant that the pain was so great that the
lips of the man trembled under the operation. 4 If the giver
of the wound was outlawed on that account, and wanted to be released from the
outlawry, he had to buy himself out for fifteen marks, to be paid to the king;
and to the wounded man a sum according to his rétt.
"If a freedman wounds a man he
shall pay 12 aurar as fine, and his son double, and a
bondi triple; an odal-born man double the bondi, a lendr-man and a stallari double again, and a jarl double the amount they
pay, the king double the jarl. When a man wounds another he shall pay woundindemnities to the one whom he wounded, one eyrir for
the wound, one eyrir where a muscle is cut, one eyrir when edge and leg meet,
one eyrir for every bone that falls down if it makes a sound when thrown into
the scales, one eyrir for every singeing, one eyrir for each cut in the clothes,
one eyrir for every cut if it bleeds, half a mark for wounds in the vital parts,
half a mark for marrow-wounds (piercing to the marrow). The wounder shall pay healing-fee and give to them both
(physician and wounded) food for a month. If a muscle is cut off and falls on
the ground the indemnity is six aurar, and as much if
a sear is left in a man's head (a scar which causes pain when the head is
combed). All breast-wounds shall be valued, but back-wounds receive double
indemnity. If a man is present at a quarrel and does not part nor help either he
shall pay a slanbaug (ring or indemnity of
laziness) to the king 12 aurar" (Gulath.,
185). "There are
bone-indemnities (bein-gjöld) wherever a bone is
loosened from the wound of a man. . . . Then there is one eyrir to be paid and
one eyrir for each little bone until they are six. But if so large a bone is
loosened that six holes may be made in it six aurar
shall be paid, but a bone-indemnity is never higher than six aurar" (Frostath., iv. 49).
"If a haulld wounds a man he is liable to pay six baugar (rings) to the king, and twelve aurar are in each ring. If an árborinn-madr wounds a man he has to pay three rings; and a
leysingi (freedman) two, a lendr-man twelve, a jarl twentyfour, a king forty-eight, twelve aurar being in every ring, and the sum is to be paid to all
to whom it is due by law. All this is valued in silver" (Frostath.,
iv. 53). "If an árman (steward) is struck or slain at a church or at a feast
or at a Thing the slayer is outlawed, as for the slaying of any man; but if
anywhere else he shall pay fifteen marks, and the árman has half the rétt of a haulld" (Frostath., iv. 57).
"The king's
skutilsveins (pages) shall have the rétt of a haulld in all greater
and lesser things. But with regard to other servants of the king they shall have
the rett of a haulld if they
wear ale-cloths (aprons) on their necks, and also the one who steers his
trading-ship between lands, and also his goldsmiths. Stallaris (marshals shall have the rett of a lendr-man in smaller and
larger things" (Frostath., iv. 60). If a man bit
another man, his fore teeth were broken at the Thing by the king's tax-gatherer
(sýslu-man), but no indemnity was paid. Wounds
with knives were also punished at the Thing. 5 "It is unfitting that men should
bite each other like horses or dogs. When a man bites another the syslumadr (steward) shall have him taken and brought
to the Thing and his teeth broken out of his mouth" (King Magnus' Laws).
To the wounded man himself,
indemnity for wounds and fees for physicians were paid; the former varying
according to the nature of the wounds, but otherwise equal for all without
distinction of rétt. The fee paid to a physician was
fixed according to the time taken in healing the wound. "One eyrir shall be paid as
healing-fee every month and two monthly allowances of meal and two of butter.
Thus it shall be every month till . . . . It shall be offered at the first
Thing, and his farm and his loose property is taken until he has paid lawful
fine to the king and wound-indemnities and healing-fee to the wounded. If he
does not offer it at the first Thing he is outlawed and his property, except
what he takes into the wood with him (is confiscated)" (Frostath., iv. 12).
"All have equal wound-indemnities
(sérbtr), thegn and thrall.
If a man wounds a man's thrall he shall feed him while he lies wounded and pay
his work to his master and his healing-fee" (Gulath.,
215). If any one
killed his own thrall he was not punished, but had to declare it; and if he
failed to do so, he was mordingi (murderer). If
a man slew the thrall of another man, he had to pay the value of the naked
thrall to the master, but nothing to the king. 6 Atli, a freeman working for Njal, was slain by a kinsman of Halgerd, the wife of Gunnar; when Gunnar, who was at the
Althing, knew it, he went to Njal and wished him to arbitrate. "Njal
said: 'It was our intention not to disagree on this, and I will not make him a
thrall.' Gunnar said he assented, and stretched forward his hand. Njal named witnesses, and they agreed on this. Skarphedin said: 'Halgerd does not
allow our húskarls to die from old age.' Gunnar
answered: 'It is thy mother's intention that the blows should be mutual in each
other's farm.' Nial said: 'There will soon be too much
of this.' He arbitrated that one hundred in silver should be paid, and Gunnar
paid it at once" (Njala, c. 38).
In ch. 39
we are told that the man who slew Atli is slain by one
of Bergthóra's men, and Gunnar pays back the weregild to Njal. Offence in word
consisted in abuse or disgraceful similes, or in bringing an accusation of some
disgraceful deeds. In the first
case the offended had to get witnesses to the offence, and must not return the
abuse; if he did so, he was held to have avenged himself, when the two offences
were balanced one against the other, and there was no indemnity. In the second
case the offender could free himself by proving the truth of his accusation, or
getting ten witnesses that the accusation was grounded on a report from the
house of the offended. The offended person then had to deny this on oath, or in
some cases by undergoing the burning iron ordeal; according to the result the
offender had or had not to pay indemnity. If a man was
slandered behind his back to the king or a chief, the offender was liable to the
punishment which the slandered would have had had he been guilty.
"No one of us shall slander another
to the king, or to a more powerful man than himself. If he slanders away a man's
life or property, he has slandered away his own property or life, if it is
proved. If he denies it he shall do it with a séttareid (an oath). He shall have the same
punishment which he meant for the man" (Gulath., 137). 7 "No man can take his rétt oftener than three times, 8 neither man nor woman, if he does
not take revenge in the meantime" (Gulath., 186).
The weregild was not always paid in cash, but was sometimes
given in kind. Now the payment must be regulated.
A cow shall be worth two aurar and a half. When a cow
is paid it must not be older than eight winters, unless the receiver cares to
take it. All paid cows must have good horns and tails, eyes and teats, and in
every respect be good. Corn and oxen and all calfbearing cows may be paid as indemnities (baug). Gold or burnt (cleansed) silver may be paid if found.
Horses, but not mares. A stallion,
but not a gelding. It must not have faults. Sheep may be paid, but not
goats. Odal-land, but not kaup-land. A ship,
unless it is repaired or so old that the first oar-loops of it have been rown off, its stems are broken off, or it is repaired with
planks which have not been put on while the ship stood on its stocks. Nothing
worth less than one eyrir shall be paid unless the indemnity is less. . . . .
Weapons which are unimpaired, hard and unbroken. Those
with which the man was slain shall not be offered. A sword shall not be paid as
indemnity unless it is ornamented with gold or silver. Vadmal and all new linen and all new
and uncut cloth, unless the receiver wants to take new and cut cloth.
Men's clothes and not women's may be paid, new and not old. New stuff not cut
into a cloak. Blue cloaks and skrům,d (a kind of stuff) new and uncut. All boys brought
up at home when not older than fifteen winters, unless the receiver assents, may
be paid. Bondmaids shall not be paid as weregild"
(Gulath., 223). NOTES
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