essay

The medieval Icelandic outlaw: lifestyle, saga, and legend

from sagas to society : comparative approaches to early icelandEnfield Lock, Middlesex, Uk • Published In 1992 • Pages: 189-203

By: Amory, Frederic.

Abstract
This is a study of the outlaw in medieval Icelandic society. Amory discusses the legal concept of outlawry in Iceland, the sagas as literary models of outlaw biography, and the folkloric approach to the outlaw sagas. To these the author adds the social aspects of outlawry in which outlaws, for example, band together to form microsocieties within the society as a whole. The text contains data on the life-styles of outlaws, and their relationship to the GOðI or chieftains who offer them refuge and their patronage and protection from prosecution in return for the outlaws' services doing manual work and as assassins in the settlement of old scores in the feuds between chieftains.
Subjects
Verbal arts
Districts
Legal norms
Crime
Offenses against life
Execution of justice
culture
Early Icelanders
HRAF PubDate
2004
Region
Europe
Sub Region
Scandinavia
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Educator
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 2002
Field Date
no date
Coverage Date
ninth-thirteenth centuries
Coverage Place
general Iceland
Notes
Frederic Amory
For bibliographical references see document 10: [Gísli Pálsson]
LCCN
93150093
LCSH
Icelanders