Of Grey Geese and Burning Lawyers: The Structures of the Feud System in Viking Age Iceland

Abstract

The Icelandic saga’s portray the world of the Viking Age as being one of violence and death. In particular, the existence of the bloodfeud is often depicted. However, these depictions are without much examination as to how it functioned, let alone how it came into being and was mitigated. Moreover, there is little discussion in the sagas about where the feud stood within the legal structure of the period. What was the purpose of the feud in saga-age Norse society? What legal or social structures does it preserve or protect? The idea that the bloodfeud was an integral aspect of Icelandic (and, potentially by extension, Norse) legal culture is an idea that I will develop through an examination of a number of the sagas themselves and the ways other historians have interpreted them.

Beyond the legal system itself, the feud features itself as a justification for various aggressive actions in the sagas, such as warring with neighbouring kingdoms or tribes, and the forswearing of oaths and breaking of alliances. The conceptualization of the feud in Norse society, therefore, must have been linked to other ideas of masculinity, strength, and honour. How is this portrayed within the sagas, and what potential abuses could this have led to, are other questions I explore. The significance of the feud, and the meaning ascribed to it, will be examined against its socio-legal status – if any – in an effort to determine how prevalent (or even useful) the feud was in medieval Icelandic society. By this I problematize the actual use of legal codes and attempt to situate them against the reality of communal acceptance and societal norms. To better examine this, I analys whether the sagas were used to bolster a centralizing legal system, or a reflection of social convention at the time.