Gripla - 01.01.1984, Blaðsíða 101

DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE SAGAS
97
dýra offers a detailed example that shows not only the renown that
accrued to a successful arbitrator but also the opportunity arbitration
brought him to increase his wealth and power. At the start of the saga,
Guðmundr dýri intervenes to force a truce between two feuding groups
whose quarrel has passed the point where direct resolution is possible.
But the feud continues until the growing enmity between the parties
threatens to destroy the stability of the whole Eyjafjörðr region. At this
point Guðmundr again thrusts himself between the feuding parties, and
an arbitrated settlement is finally reached. By the next summer, Guð-
mundr’s reputation has increased so much that men from neighboring
regions begin to seek his aid, and he benefits by payment received for
his brokerage services.
In Hallfreðar saga, in a concise example of how an arbitrator was
engaged, a kinsman demands “honorable” recompense before he will
intervene in Hallfreðr’s feud. Immediately after Hallfreðr is summoned
for a killing, he is asked by his brother Galti,
“Hver er tilætlan þín um mál þetta?” Hann (Hallfreðr) svarar: “Ek
ætla at sœkja traust Þorkels, mágs míns.” Þeir riðu sunnan um várit
ok váru saman þrír tigir; þeir gistu at Hofi. Hallfreðr spurði Þorkel,
hvert traust hann skyldi þar eiga. Þorkell kvazk mundu veita at
málum, ef boðin væri nökkur sœmð. Nú koma menn til þings, ok
á þinginu gengu þeir Hallfreðr ok Galti til búðar Þorkels ok fréttu,
hvar koma skyldi. Hann segir: “Ek mun bjóðask til g0rðar, ef þér
vilið þat hvárirtveggju, ok mun ek þá leita um sættir.” (ÍF 8, ch. 10)
In the sagas cases were often arbitrated before going to court, the
agreements then being presented at the assembly. At other times thorny
court cases were assumed by arbitrators who might find a solution ac-
ceptable to all sides. A further possibility was that the court, made up
of farmers appointed by chieftains, acted as arbitrator by presenting a
settlement.
Sometimes one side in a feud, having arrived at a commanding posi-
tion, was able to manipulate arbitration so aggressively that court ver-
dicts against opponents, either at local assemblies or at the Althing, led
to heavy fines or outlawry.12 In this way a rival could be destroyed or
12 For a discussion of outlawry see “Fredl0shed, Island,” Kulturliistoriskt lexi-
kon för nordisk medeltid IV (Malmö: Allhems förlag, 1959), 603-608. A concise
English summary is found in Laws of Early Iceland: Grágás I, trans. Andrew Den-
Gripla VI — 7