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REVIEWS Chieftains and Power In REVIEWS as many as 50-60 chieftencies. Jon Vidar Sigurdsson After that their number started decreasing, and by 1118 there Chieftains and Power in the were no more than c. 30 left. Icelandic Commonwealth "There was a similar reduction in numbers in the period from 1118 Translated by Jean Lundskrer­ to 1220, when about 20 Nielsen disappeared" (p. 64). So early in the thirteenth century there were Odense University Press, Odense, only nine or ten chieftains in the 1999, pp. 215 entIre country controlling as many 'domains', instead of the thirty-six chieftencies back in The book under review is a 930. The original power system translation of a Ph. D. thesis from had in fact collapsed. the University of Bergen, and JSV's account of this betrays its ongins in a number of development is partly based on ways. Like so many other theses conjecture, but on the whole it is of its kind it is brimming with lucid and well-argued. My enthusiasm for its subject and principal criticism of his book is devoid of the cynicism we often abouthis treatment of the Sagas of find in the works of older Icelanders, which tell us much scholars. On the other hand, the more about the goaar and ideas author's (hereafter referred to as relating to them than his book JVS) perception of early Icelandic serves to indicate. Vatnsdrela saga literature is somewhat vague at which has seen called hofOingja times. skuggsjd "a mirror for chieftains" The essential Eurpose of the presents porsteinn Ingimundarson book is to is descnbe the nature and evolution of political power as an ideal gooi: he is moderate, in Iceland, in particular the fair-minded, patient, shrewd, system of gOOar (sg. gocJi), the well-spoken, hospitable, a chieftains who served as active reliabfe friend wno is endowed members of the legislative body with good-luck and shows no (logretta) at the AIthing and mercy to trouble-makers. Other appointed judges to the courts; model goaar include Arnkell in besides, the goaar had certain Eyrbyggja saga, who "was other roles, mostly at the local remarkably shrewd in judgement, good-tempered, kind-hearted, level. In pagan times, the golJar orave, honest and moderate. He had sacerdotal as well as secular came out on top in every lawsuit", duties; it was their business to and Askell in Reykdada saga. maintain a temple and hold Other sagas describe chieftains sacrificial feasts. When the who arrogate to themselves Althing was founded in 930 there certain powers and privileges were 36 chieftains but their which oelonged to absolute number was increased in 965 monarchs. Thus, the title hero of when the country was divided Hrafnkels saga slays his own into Quarters. ]VS sug~ests that innocent and unarmed shepherd this fi~e was on the mcrese and insists on his right toKill until middle of the eleventh with impunity. The saga author century when there may have been may have had in mind the Kings' 151 NORTHERN STUDIES· 36 Mirror according to which the ruler C:f Norwayhad such a right; BrianSmith should he have an innocent person put to death he was guilty Toons and Tenants: Settlement and of murder before God, but it was Society in Shetland, 1299-1899 beyond the powers ofm?rtal m~ to punish him for the cnme. Shetland Times Ltd., Lerwick, 6fetgs 2000 jJdttr, on the other hand, is about a wealthy and powerful goOi who 108pp, £13.99 modelled himself on ruling monarchs by travelling every spring with a large retin~e to a Brian Smith needs little certain valley ana expecting local introduction to readers of farmers of modest means to offer Northern Studies, well known as him ho~p.italityfor. many da~s. A de~ding he is both for his encyclopaedic single VISIt from this knowled~e ofShetland records chieftain could leave hIS host and for his ability to make sense destitute. Both Bandamanna saga of the often bewildering technical and Olkojra saga satirise corrupt vocabulary to be founcfth~rein.A chieftains who gang together and subject which he has partIcu!arly bend the law in order to make made his own is the complex lSsue immoral gains outof other of rents, taxation and land tenure people's mistakes. Such sagas in Shetland, and Toons and appear to serve the dual purpose Tenants brings together Brian of evoking images of the past, Smith's thoughts on the subject, whether or not they were based from Shetlana's earliest document on fact, and also of using them as (an account of disputes over rent warnings to people to stay on on Papa Stour in 1299) to the their guard against leaders who borders ofliving memory. broke the law instead of instead There are four main articles, of protecting it. written over a period of sixteen Proof-reading should have years, together with shorter notes been better. I find it hard to to explain technical terms such as believe that the author 'toonmels' and 'waith'. There is deliberately wanted his readers also a useful appendix which to think that the terms iirl~g,!or!og presents in full a number of texts ['fate', 'destiny'] denoted faIth,. quoted more selec~vely in the, as is bluntly stated on p. 35, and It articles. Of the artIcles, two ( The wouldn't surprise me if note 76 on letter of 1299 about Papa Stour' p. 106 is going to raise an and 'Lasts of Land') are recent eyebrow or two: "Brendakirkjur work, while the others ('What is (the farmers churches farms) were a Scattald?' and 'Rents from the farms which the church on the Sea') are revised versions of farm only owned a part of the earlier publications. 'What is a farm, or a part of other farms." Scattald?' in particular contains major revisions in the light both of. Hermann Pdlsson the chronology of land tenure established in Brian Smith's more recent work and of the research of others. Revisions include useful discussion of the etymology of the 152.
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