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The Gray (Grey) Goose Laws ( is, Grágás {{IPA-is, ˈkrauːˌkauːs}) are a collection of
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
s from the
Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. With ...
period. The term ''Grágás'' was originally used in a medieval source to refer to a collection of Norwegian laws and was probably mistakenly used to describe the existing collection of Icelandic law during the sixteenth century. The Grágás laws in Iceland were presumably in use until 1262–1264 when
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
was taken over by the Norwegian crown.


Origins of Icelandic law

According to
Ari Thorgilsson Ari Þorgilsson (1067–1148 AD; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; also anglicized Ari Thorgilsson) was Iceland's most prominent medieval chronicler. He was the author of ''Íslendingabók'', which details the histories of the various families ...
, the earliest Icelandic laws were modeled on those from the Norwegian west-coast law-province, Gulathing. These were introduced to Iceland by an immigrant from Norway named Úlfljótr, sometime during the 920's. Following several years of modification and revision, Úlfljótr's laws were approved by an initial assembly. Out of this meeting, the annual general assembly known as the
Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...
was established. Each following summer, Icelanders would convene at Thingvellir for legislative and judicial meetings which would be supervised by the Lawspeaker.


Etymology

The term "Gray Goose Laws", used to describe the laws of the Icelandic Commonwealth by the 16th century, may refer to the following: * the fact that the laws were written with a goose quill, * the fact that the laws were bound in goose skin, or * because of the age of the laws—it was then believed that geese lived longer than other birds.


Manuscripts

The existing Icelandic Commonwealth laws that now exist as the ''Grágás'' never actually existed in one complete volume during
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
times. The ''Grágás'' does not contain a unified body of law, as arguably one never existed in the Icelandic Commonwealth. Instead, the ''Grágás'' was derived from two smaller, fragmentary volumes known as the ''Konungsbók'' (Copenhagen, Royal Library, GKS 1157 fol), apparently written around 1260, and ''Staðarhólsbók'' (Reykjavík,
Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies ( is, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum ) is an institute of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Iceland which conducts research in Icelandic and related academic s ...
, AM 334 fol), apparently written in 1280. The ornate detail and appearance of the volumes suggests that they were created for a wealthy, literate man, though scholars cannot be certain. Because the ''Grágás'' laws originally existed in two different forms, each has a unique written account of the law. Sometimes the ''Konungsbók'' and ''Staðarhólsbók'' present different information, sometimes complementary information, and sometimes contradictory information. This could represent the way in which the law was interpreted differently by different scribes or by different citizens. According to the ''Grágás'', one third of the Icelandic laws were recited by the Law Speaker at the Icelandic national
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, the Alþingi, each year over a three-year period. In 1117, the Alþingi decided that all the laws should be written down and this was accomplished at Hafliði Másson’s farm over that winter and published the following year. These laws remained in force until 1271–1273 at which time the Ironside Laws—based on Norwegian laws—were adopted. There is scholarly disagreement, however, about how representative the Grágás are regarding the legal tradition that existed during Viking age Iceland. Arguably, the codification of oral law in the ''Grágás'' better represents Icelandic legal tradition post-Christianity, thus after the year 1000.


References


Editions and translations

* Vilhjálmur Finsen (ed. and trans.), ''Grágás: Islændernes lovbog i fristatens tid, udg. efter det kongelige Bibliotheks Haanskrift'', 2 vols (Copenhagen: Berling, 1852), http://www.septentrionalia.net/etexts/gragas.pdf. Edition and translation of the Konungsbók (GKS 1157 fol) text. * Vilhjálmur Finsen (ed. and trans.), ''Grágás efter det Arnamagnæanske Haandskrift Nr. 334 fol.'' (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1879). Edition and translation of the Staðærhólsbók (AM 334 fol) text. * Dennis, Andrew,
Peter Foote Peter Godfrey Foote (26 May 1924 – 29 September 2009) was a scholar of Old Norse literature and Scandinavian studies. He inaugurated the Department of Scandinavian Studies at University College London, and headed it for 20 years. Early life a ...
, and Richard Perkins, trans., ''Laws of Early Iceland, Gragas: The Codex Regis of Gragas with Material from Other Manuscripts''. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, 1980.


Studies

*Boulhosa, Patricia Press. “The Law of Óláfr inn Helgi.” In ''Icelanders and the Kings of Norway: Mediaeval Sagas and Legal Texts''. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2005. *Byock, Jesse L.,
Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power
', Berkeley: University of California, 1990 *Byock, Jesse L. "Grágás: ''The 'Grey Goose' Law'' in ''Viking Age Iceland'' London: Penguin, 2001. *Gjerset, Knut, ''History of Iceland''. New York: Macmillan, 1924 *Laxness, Einar, ''Íslandssaga'', vol. 1, Reykjavík: Bókaútgafa Menningarsjóðs og Þjóðvinafélagsins, 1974


External links


Handbok i norrøn filologi - Faksimilar
Einar Haugen Einar Ingvald Haugen (; April 19, 1906 – June 20, 1994) was an American linguist, writer, and professor at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard University. Biography Haugen was born in Sioux City, Iowa, to Norwegian immigrants from t ...
- Contains photographs of the text in manuscript Legal history of Iceland