One
the things I do when not writing poetry is teaching about areas of
Old Norse-Icelandic culture. One of my classes deals with how
insults were dealt with in Iceland during period. In the class, I
talk about níð, which the
making of images or speaking ill of one´s enemies. Spoken insults
are níð and carvings
are called treníð.
Both are serious offenses, as are dealings with unmarried women or
illicit dealings with married women. What follows are the Old
Norse-Icelandic and English versions from the Landnámabók, a
history of claiming of lands in Iceland. While the translators of
this section, Pálsson and Edwards, believe that there may be some
exaggeration in this tale, it still presents us with a striking
example of justice in turn of the millennium Iceland.
Landnámabók,
section 284, in Íslendingabók, ed. Vald. Ásmundarson (Reykjavík,
1891), 191-193.
Uni,
son Garðars er fyrst fann Ísland, fór til íslands með ráði
Haralds konungs hárfagra, ok ætlaði at leggja undir sik landit,
enn síðan hafði konungr heitit honum at gera hann jarl sinn. Uni
tók land þar sem nú heitr Unaóss, ok húsaði þar; hann nam sér
land til eignar fyrir sunnan Lagarfljót, alt herað til Unalœkjar.
Enn er landsmenn vissu ætlun hans, tóku þeir at ýfast við hann,
ok vildu eigi selja honum kvikfé eðr vistir, ok mátti eigi þar
haldast. Uni fór í Álftafjorð enn syðra; hann náði þar eili
at staðfestat; þá fór hann austan með tólfta mann, ok kom at
vetri til Leíðólfs kappa í Skóghaverfi; hann tók við þeim.
Uni þýddist Þórunni, dóttue Leiðólfs, ok var hon með barni
um várit; þá vildi Uni hlaupast á braut með sína menn; enn
Leiðolfr reið eftir honum, ok fundust þeir hjá Flangastöðum ok
börðusr þar, því at Uni vildi eigi aftr fara með Leiðólfi;
þar fellu nökkurir menn af Una, enn hann fór after nauðigr, þviat
Leiðólfr vildi at hann fengi konunnar of staðfestist ok tœki arf
eftir hann. Nökkuru síðar hljóp Uni á braut, þá er Leiðólfr
var eigi heima, enn Leiðólfr eftir honum, þá er han vissi, ok
fundust þeir hjá Kálfagröfum; var hann þá svá reiðr at hann
drap Una ok förunauta hans alla. Sonr Una ok þórunnar var Hróarr
Tungugoði; hann tók arf Leiðólfs allan, ok var et mesta
afarmenni; hann átti dóttur Hámandar, systar Gunnars frá
Hlíðarenda; þeira son var Hámundr enn halti, er var enn mesti
vigamaðr. Tjörvi enn háðsami ok Gunnarr vára systur-synir
Hróars. Tjörvi bað Ástriðar mannvits-brekku Móðólfsdóttue,
enn brœðr hennar Ketill ok Hrólfr synjuðu honum konunnar, enn
þeir gáfu hanna Þóri Ketilsynni; þá hvert kveld, er þeir
Hróarr genga til kamars, þá hrækti hann í andlit líkneski
Þóris, enn kysti hennar likneski, áðr Hróarr skóf af. Eftir
þat skar Tjörvi þau á hniskefti sínn ok kvað jetta:
Ver
höfum þar með Þóri
(þat
var sett við glettu)
anðar
unga Þrúði
áðr
á vegg of fáða.
Nú
hefik rastakarns ristit
(réð
ek mart við Syn bjarta
hauka
skofts) á hefti
Hlín
ölbœkis mínu.
Héraf
gerðust vig þeira Hróars ok systursona hans.
The
Book of Settlements: Landnámabók.
Trans., Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards. (University of Manitoba,
2006), p. 114-115.
284.
Uni the Dane
Uni,
son of Gardar who discovered Iceland, went to Iceland at the
suggestion of King Harald FineöHair with the intention of conquering
the land. The king had promised to make him his Earl. Uni put in at
a place now called Una Estuary, and built a house there. He took
possession of land south of Lagarwater, claiming the entire
districtnorth of Una Brook. When people realizsed what he wanted,
they grew hostile and wouldn´t sell him livestock and other
necessities, so he wasn´t able to stay there.
Uni moved over to South
Alftafjord, but couldn´t settle there either. Then he travelled
westwards with eleven companions and came that winter to Leidolf the
Champion of Skogarhverfi, who took them in. Uni fell in love with
Horunn, Leidolf's daughter, and by spring she was carrying a child.
Then Uni tried to run away with his men, but Leidolf rode off after
them and caught up with them at Flangastead. Hey fought there,
because Uni wouldn't go back with Leidolf. Several of Uni's men were
killed, and he went back against his will, because Leidolf wanyed
himto marry the girl, settle down there and take the inheritance
after him. A little later, Uni ran away again when Leidolf wasn't
home, but as soon as Leidolf found out, he went off after him. They
met up with each other at Kalfagrffir, and Leidolf was in such a
rage, he killed Uni and all his companions.
The son of Uni and Thorunn was
Hroar Tongue-Priest, who took the whole inheritance after Leidolf and
became an outstanding man. He married Hamund's daughter, the sister
of Gunnar of Hildarend. Their son was Hamund the Lame, a fighting
man of some reputation.
Hroar's nephews were Tjorfi the
Mocker and Gunnar. Tjorfi wanted to marry Astrid Wisdom-Slope,
daughter of Modolf, but her brothers Ketil and Hrolf wouldn't let her
become his ife and married her off to Thorir Ketilsson instead. Then
Tjorfi carved the images of Astrid and Thorir on the privy wall, and
every evening when he and Hroar went to the privy he used to spit on
the face of Thorir's image and kiss hers, until Hroar scraped them
off the wall. Then Tjorvi carved them onto the handle of his knife
and made this verse:
Once in cruel spite
I carved an image
of the young bride
with Thorir beside her;
On the knife handle
I've now carved the lady
I used to have plenty
of pleasure with her.
On account of this verse Hroar
and his nephews were killed.
Notes:
On Uni the Dane, Uni is a man of
King Harald fair-hair, who went Uni in a rather ineffectual attempt to
“conquer” Iceland. This occurred in approximately 895. (Eric
Magnuson, “The Last of the Icelandic Commonwealth, Part I,” Saga
Book of theViking Club, vol. 5 (London, 1906-1907), p. 312. In his cavalier treatment of Hrunn, Leidolf's daughter, Uni has
violated section k § 155 of the Icelandic law,
known as Grágás. This section reads in part, “If a man forces a
woman down or gets into bed beside her intent upon having intercourse
with her, then the penalty for that is full outlawry.” (Laws of
Early Iceland: Grágás, 2 vol., ed. And trans., Dennis,
Foote, and Perkins, University of Manitoba Press, 1980 and 2000, vol.
2, p. 69). The Grágás goes on to say that if a principal
for a woman (one who can negotiate her marriage) finds that another
man has had intercourse with the woman before her betrothal he can
bring suit “on the grounds that [the defendant] has lain [with] the
woman and gone so far that he could expect that they would have a
child if that was destined for them. ... [He can] claim his penalty
is full outlawry.” (Grágás II, § 157, p. 74). A similar
punishment is assigned to fathering an illegitimate child. In this
case, however, Leidolf chooses a more direct solution than a lawsuit.
He hunts Uni down and brings him back for a “shotgun” wedding,
and when Uni flees again, Leidolf hunts him down again and kills him.
There is no record that any compensation is sought for Uni's death,
even though he was associated with a very powerful man. I assume
that this is because Uni is a full outlaw and can be killed on sight
by the principal in the suit. (Grágás I, p. 246)
The case of Tjorvi the Mocker is
easier to understand. This tale takes place at about the time of
Njal´s saga, as Gunnar of Hildarund is the same Gunnar who married
Halgerd Hoskuld´s daughter and died when his wife refused him a lock
of hair to make a bowstring. This puts Tjorvi´s tale prior to AD
992. Tjorvi violates the law in three (maybe four) ways. First, he
could be charged with tampering with an unmarried woman. Grágás §
155 (Grágáa II, p. 159) says in part, “If a man kisses a woman in
private [and] she takes offence at it ... the penalty is lesser
outlawry.” Compounding this is the making of a poem: “If a man
composes a love verse on a woman, then the penalty is full outlawry.”
(Grágás § 238, in Grágás II, p. 198). Further, the carving of a
likenesses of Astrid and Thorir on the privy wall violates Grágás §
237, “If a man makes a shaming slander about someone, then the
prnalty shall be is lesser outlawry. And it is shaming slander if a
man carves or incises a “wood-shame” directed against him or
raises a “shame pole” against him.” ( Grágás II, p. 197).
The same law applies to the carving of Astrid's likeness on his knife
handle. All in all, it appears that Tjorvi was begging for
punishment which he received.
Fridrikr