Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2003, Page 321
“Mansgngr” revisited
f Bjarni Einarsson
According to a common assumption among scholars of medieval Ice-
landic culture, skalds of the early commonwealth made a sport of com-
posing improper poems about young ladies, even married women. But
not for long, because the indignant fathers, or even husbands, of the
ladies in question passed a law against this impious practice and made it
punishable by outlawry, which was the most severe punishment in the
laws of the commonwealth, as there was no death penalty. The founda-
tion for the above-described assumption is the following passage in the
ancient law codices (cf. Grågås. Codex Regius 2:184): “Ef maflr yrkir
mansQng um konu, ok varbar skoggang”. But there is an important
rider: “Kona å spk, ef hon er tvftug eba ellri. Ef hon vill eigi sækja låta,
ok å lggråbandi hennar sgkina”.
The cited passage is from a chapter called Um skåldskap, which is
mostly about various types of libellous versemaking, all punishable by
skoggangr (outlawry). A similar passage in the other old codex, StaSar-
holsbok, is found in the chapter called Vigslodi, the section on battie
and manslaughter.
The reason why it seems of current interest to take up this well wom
matter is a recent review by Jenny Jochens of Helga Kress’ book, Mått-
ugar meyjar (Reykjavfk 1993). Conceming Helga’s interpretation of
the term mansQtigr, JJ States (1997:262): “Despite her assertion to the
contrary, the Icelandic mansongur is not related to the German Min-
nesang despite the attractiveness of the idea (MM 18-20). The law code
Grågås defines mansongur as erotic libel, a definition which is retained
by the passages in the sagas of Icelanders where the word also occurs. It
is nonetheless true that by the time of the rimur, mansongur had be-
come a prefatory love song often in the form of a lament, and thus was
close to the German genre”.
In an earlier work JJ gave an explanation of the term “erotic libel”