VIKING HERITAGE MAGAZINE Editorial IN THIS ISSUE Fine prehistoric optics Chilly winds, the colourful leaves of autLlmn and the growing darkness or just finery? 3-4 here in t he North, all remind us of the approaching winter. What we need New Discoveries in Norwich 5 this time of t he year is a warming fireplace and some good reading. And here yo u are dea r readers - al l over the globe and in whatever climate Thor's Hammer you are living in - a new well-filled issue of Viking Heritage Magazine! - on the Viking-Age amulet- Let's start with the two articles dea ling with archaeological finds from pendants in Scandinavia 6-7 the Viki ng Age, one about the rock crystal lenses fo und on Gotland and the oth er about the popular Thor's hammer pendants. It is really amazing Viking folklore B-9 how much knowledge of the past we can get by doing extensive research on just one type of artefact. Norse Mythology: Plundering Man y times we ca n see that mythology is involved in the practical use the Vikings for Centuries 10-11 p of an artefact, as is t he ca se with the Th or's hammer. As a continuation of Sagas and society I. th e article about Nord ic reli gion in the last issue of this magazine, we are About slavery on Iceland 12-14 happy to present an article ab out Vi king Folk lore in this issue. ~ Through out the ages folklore has been a way of interpreting reality and Midgard - Historical Center < makin g it un derstandable. in Vestfold Norway was officialy In this iss ue we also take a cl oser look at some of the people of the opened May 21th 14-15 Viking Age who are rarely mentioned, the thralls or the slaves. This is the ~. fi rs t of two articles, presenting the living con ditions for slaves on Iceland. The next article will be published in 4/00. ~ As usua l there is information about how the Vikings' heritage is dealt NOR TH SE A with in di ffere nt places. The past summer has seen so many kinds of VIKING LE G AC Y even ts re gard ing Vikin gs, that we cannot begin to mention them all. All these highlights and t he growing interest in Vikin gs an d th e Viking Age make it even more importa nt to ke ep up th is opportunity for spreading North Sea Viking Heritage the re su lts of different kin ds of sci entific research and investigations as Fifth Board Meeting held on Shetland, well as an insight into wha t is ha ppening in the Viking world of today. July 2000 16-17 So, feel welcome to contact us with your news, ideas, and suggestions! Viking exhibition in Como, Italy 16-17 I hope you will have a relaxing reading! A ship comes a-sailing Marita E Ekman The story behind the Editor "Viking Ship" find in Nattviken, Harnosand, Sweden 18 E-mail: [email protected] The Braid - A Unique Manx Farmstead 19 Reflections upon the Vikings! Words of 1000 Years event 20-21 New Viking-age presentations Wisdom in the Netherlands 2 2-23 To a false ftiend the foothpath willds Though his house be on the highway Heritage News To a sure ftiend there is {/ short C1/t, Though he live a long way off. Heritage News 23- 26 From "Havamal" (Words of "The High One") \ ik:"ng VieWR oints ~.j- About the front page: Viking Vie,'o'Doin:s 27 ~, Rock crystal lenses fro m the Vikin g Age, found on Gotland. Read about them on pa ge 3. Photo: Raymond Hejdstrbm. © Gotlands Fornsal. 1< ~ http://viking.hgo.se 2 VIKING HERITAGE MAGAZINE By MICHAEL NEIR In order to develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of slavery we have to get to know the structures of Icelandic society. Its background is deeply rooted - .----.. in the time when Iceland was colonised. In a country lacking executive institutions, the survival of the individual is strongly dependent on the power of his clan. If a person has been found guilty of a serious crime, he is denied legal protection by his kinsmen. He becomes a sk6garmaor (outlaw), which entitles anyone to take revenge on him without "'\ retribution. In that respect, Icelandic law matches perfectly ~i~\ with the Viking conception of the world, dividing the cosmos into inner- and outer spheres. The slave lived under the same conditions as the sk6garmaor. He was practically without rights and stood outside of law and society. There was only one reason for protecting a slave and that was because he was the personal property of a member of society... Our main sources of information describing When referring to the leading classes, wo rking on the landowners' properri es . To the slaves' siruation are the eld er Norse texts. we need to menrion the Pingmenn, meaning round off the pi cture we mustn't forget the We need menrion the Icelandic Grdgds as most the farmers who were ri ch enough to follow peopl e who li ved on chari ty (6magi). Dating imporranr, but law texts from the Norwegian their gooi to the AJthing. T he goooro was a back to the siruation at the ti me of the land colonists' home di srri cts are also of great ki nd of chi eftain , this power was held by a acquisition, all free men we re regarded as interes r. Especiall y in ea rli er times, scienrists limited number of men. Aside from makin g hav ing equal rights. O n the other hand, also preferred ro view literature like the laws and electing judges at the AJthing, the political influence had become a question of landndmab6k and the Sagas as hisro rical goilar also held a key-position in Icelandic economical power. Accordingly, the free state so urces. H owever they underes ti mated their society in many other ways. Every thingmaor seems to be an attempt to uni fy twO d iffe renr character as independenr pieces of arr. In was obligated to affili ate hi mself with a gooi. rea li ties: a democratic- and an aristocratic acrual fact, the Sagas were not wri tten down However he could choose freely, making a one. Later on, the te nsion between these two unril ce nruries after slavery had disappea red . gooi's power strongly dependenr on the concepts will cause the fin al breakdown of This casts some doubt on the pi crure of number of his followers. Since it was a Icelandic society. slavery as introduced in the Sagas. We wi ll inherited privil ege, the goooro 5 power was re rum ro this question at a later stage. based on pres ti ge rather than wealth. In that In contrast to all the other classes, By decision of the great AJthing, Icelandic respect the gooi was a kind of "primus inrer slaves we re not subject to the grea t AJ thing. law was written down during the years 111 7- pares" . As already menrioned, the Icelandic To the Icelandic people, a slave (Prd!!l; fem ale IS. Prior to the law book, the duties of upper class consisted of the ri ches t farmers = ambdtt) stood ourside society; explaining G ragas, one of the law speakers - the symbolic (bomdIY . Nevertheless, in the context of th e why he neve r could be a legal person. Instead head of the free state - was to recite the grea t Althing th e Pingmenn also represented he was consid ered to be someone else's common laws. Among the three things, the all members of free Icelandic society. property, just like cattle - and was protected A/thing had national imporrance; it was the To name the members of of a b6ndi's on the same conditions, so to say. O f course, place fo r poli tical and juridical disputes. It household in order of imporrance we must no one can expect a hu man bei ng to behave became the meeting poinr for Icelandic begin with the free tenanrs, the leiglendingar. in the same way as an animal. T his gave the leadership. The btiosettumenn were dependenr to much slave a rather ambiguous position, grea ter ex tenr and had to make a living by somewhere between person and thing. http://viking.hgo.se 12 VIKING HERITAGE MAGAZINE rhe counrry or for a prize higher rhan rhe debr. Neverrheless nor even rhese limira rions Sagas and society I. we re beyo nd recall : By run ning away rhe debr-slave would srep ourside sociery irrevocably. Other than the liberated, considering children of mixed unions of freeborn and About slavery slaves as a separare cl ass can be regarded more or less as a new invenrion caused by rhe special condi rions on Iceland. T he need ro define one's ancesrry exacdy can probabl y be explained by rhe ri sk for exrensive social on Iceland mobili ry orherwise. In rh is res pecr law is a grear insrrumenr in cemenring social consrrucrions. Before we consider any excepri onal cases H owever we have ro concl ude rh ar rhe The imporrance of a perso n's ancesrry is we have ro describe rhe ordinary simarion. incidences in which a slave appeared ro be mos r obvious in quesri ons of inherirance. In Generall y speaking, a slave was nor rreared as a person were srricrl y limired ro rhis conrexr ir seems quire surprising rhar responsible for his acrions.