The Sagas of the Icelanders (113 page)

The farm (bacr) was a basic social and economic unit in Iceland. Although farms varied in size, there was presumably only one building on a ‘farm’ at the time of settlement, an all-purpose building known as a hall or farmhouse (
skdli
) or longhouse (
langhtis
), constructed on the model of the farmhouses the settlers had inhabited in Norway. Over time, additional rooms and/or wings were often added to the original construction.

The Icelandic farmhouse shown in the illustrations is based on information provided by the excavations at Stong (Stöng) in the Thjorsardal valley in the south of Iceland. Stong is regarded as having been an average-sized farm by Icelandic standards. The settlement was abandoned as a result of the devastating ash-fall from the great eruption of Hekla in 1104.

The illustrations are intended to help readers visualize the farm, and understand the specialized vocabulary used to describe it. Many of these terms can be found in the Glossary.

The plan of the farmstead (
Figure 3
) shows an overall layout of a typical farm. It is based on measurements carried out by the archaeologist Daniel Bruun, but it should be stressed that the layout of these farms was far from fixed. Nonetheless, the plan indicates the common positioning of the haystack wall/yard (
stakkgardur
) in the often-mentioned hayfield (
tún
). The hayfield wall (
túngardur
) surrounds the farm and its hayfield.

Also placed outside the main farm are the animal sheds. With the exception of a cow shed, no barns or other animal sheds came to light at Stong, but these must have existed as they did on most farms. Sometimes they were attached to the farmhouse, but more often were independent constructions some distance away from the building. Sheep sheds, in particular, tended to be built farther away from the hall, and closer to the meadows used for grazing.

The smithy is also separate (for safety reasons), and the same often appears to have applied to the fire room/fire hall (
eldhiis/eldaskdli
). The latter was essentially a form of specialized kitchen. It was not only used for cooking, but was also the site of other daily household activities carried out around the fire. Indeed, sometimes the term

Figure 3. Icelandic Farm

Figures 4 and 5. The Farmhouse at Stong

eldhús
seems to refer not to a separate building, but to the farmhouse, instead of the word hall, stressing the presence of the fire and warmth in the living quarters.

Figure 4
is a cross-section of the hall at Stong, giving an idea of the way the buildings were constructed. The framework was timber. The main weight of the roof rested on beams, which, in turn, were supported by pillars on either side of the hall. The high-seat pillars (
pndvegissúlur
) that some settlers brought with them from Norway might have been related to the pillars placed on either side of the high seat (
hdsati
). The outer walls of most farms in Iceland were constructed of a thick layer of turf and stone, which served to insulate the building. The smoke from the main fire was usually let out through a vent in the roof, but the living quarters would still have been rather smoke-ridden.

Figure 5
depicts the layout of the farmhouse excavated at Stong. The purpose of the area, here marked ‘latrine’, is uncertain, but this role makes sense on the basis of the layout of the room, and the description given in
The Tale of Thorstein Shiver
, for example. For information about the bed closet, see the Glossary.

See further: Foote and Wilson,
The Viking Achievement
.

Campbell,
The Viking World
.

The notion of kinship is central to the sense of honour and duty in the sagas, and thereby to their action. Kinship essentially involves a sense of belonging, not unlike that underlying the Celtic clan systems. The Icelandic word for kin or clan (
att
) is cognate with other words meaning ‘to own’ and ‘direction’ – the notion could be described as a ‘social compass’.

Establishing kinship is one justification for the long genealogies, which tend to strike non-Icelandic readers as idiosyncratic detours, and also for the preludes in Norway before the main saga action begins. Members of the modern nuclear family or close relatives are only part of the picture, since kinsmen are all those who are linked through a common ancestor – preferably one of high birth and high repute – as far back as five or six generations or even more.

Marriage ties, sworn brotherhood and other bonds could create conflicting loyalties with respect to the duty of revenge, of course, as seen in so many sagas, but by the same token they could serve as instruments for resolving such vendettas. A strict pecking order laid down the successive incumbents for the duty of revenge within the fairly immediate family, with a ‘multiplier effect’ if those seeking vengeance were killed in the process. The obligation to take revenge was inherited, just like wealth, property and claims.

Patriarchy was the order of the day, although notable exceptions are found. Likewise, the physical duty of revenge devolved only upon males, but women were often responsible for instigating it, either by urging a husband or brother to action with slurs

about their cowardice, or by bringing up their sons with a vengeful sense of purpose and even supplying them with old weapons that had become family heirlooms.

Iceland was unique among European societies in the tenth to thirteenth centuries in two respects in particular: it had no king and no executive power to follow through the pronouncements of its highly sophisticated legislative and judicial institutions. The lack of executive power meant that there was no means for preventing men from taking the law into their own hands, which gave rise to many memorable conflicts recorded in the sagas, but also led to the gradual disintegration of the Commonwealth in the thirteenth century.

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.