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The 13th-century Västgötalagen (Westrogothic law), is a fragment from a unknown late Viking Age law document from Västergötland, Sweden, which stipulates the conditions for a type of judicial duel, either referring to holmgang or einvigi (trial by combat):
Medieval Scandinavian law, also called North Germanic law, [1] [2] [3] was a subset of Germanic law practiced by North Germanic peoples. It was originally memorized by lawspeakers , but after the end of the Viking Age they were committed to writing, mostly by Christian monks after the Christianization of Scandinavia .
The Danelaw originated in the conquest and occupation of large parts of eastern and northern England by Danish Vikings in the late ninth century. The term applies to the areas in which English kings allowed the Danes to keep their own laws following the tenth-century English conquest in return for the Danish settlers' loyalty to the English crown.
Þingvellir was the site of the Althing, and it was a place where people came together once a year to bring cases to court, render judgments, and discuss laws and politics. [27] At the annual Althing, the thirty-nine goðis along with nine others served as voting members of the Law Council , a legislative assembly. The Lögrétta reviewed the ...
Viking raids on England began in the late 8th century, and were largely of the "hit and run" variety. [2] However, in 865 various Viking armies combined and landed in East Anglia, not to raid but to conquer the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. The annals described the combined force as the "Great Heathen Army". [3]
The Vikings had their own laws, art, and architecture. Most Vikings were also farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and traders. Popular conceptions of the Vikings often strongly differ from the complex, advanced civilisation of the Norsemen that emerges from archaeology and historical sources.
In the early Viking Age, during the late 8th century and most of the 9th, Norse society consisted of minor kingdoms with limited central authority and organization, leading to communities ruled according to laws made and pronounced by local assemblies called things. Lacking any kind of public executive apparatus—e.g. police—the enforcement ...
Any violation of the rules could be punished with immediate expulsion from the order. Each Jomsviking was bound to defend his brothers and to avenge their deaths if necessary. He was forbidden to speak ill of his fellows or to quarrel with them. Blood feuds between members were to be mediated by Jomsviking officers. Jomsvikings were forbidden ...