Gender Symmetry in Law?: the Case of Medieval Iceland
JENNY JOCHENS Gender symmetry in law?: The case of medieval Iceland Arnkell Þórólfsson, a second generation Icelandic chieftain, was described in Eyrbyggja saga as “the most gifted of all men in pagan times. He was remarkably shrewd in judgement, good-tempered, kind-hearted, brave, hon est and moderate. He came out on top in every lawsuit, no matter with whom he had to deal, which explains why people were so envious of him . Not surprisingly, his success eventually caused his enemies to kill him after his father’s death. At this time his two brothers-in-law were also dead or out of the country, and since Arnkell was one of the few Icelandic men not recorded to have either wife - hence no in-laws - or children, the task of prosecuting his murder devolved upon his two sisters. With women aðilir,as or principals, “the case was not followed up as vigorously as people might have expected after the killing of so great a man.” Since only one person received an out-law sentence of three years, the saga added that “the leading men of Iceland made a law that neither a woman, nor a man under the age of sixteen, should ever again be allowed to raise a manslaughter action, and this has been the law ever since” (ÍF 4.37—8:98—104). The historicity of the Icelandic sagas is notoriously problematic. This particular vignette implies an original period of gender symmetry on the issue of prosecution for homicides, allowing either men or women to act as principals.
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