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variation between these textual witnesses.114 Given the complexity of
Grágás’s textual tradition, it is difficult to draw solid conclusions from
Grágás concerning legal practices in the thirteenth century, especially since
many of the laws in these manuscripts were no longer in practice then.
Nonetheless, Grágás does preserve important legal concepts that may still
have informed people’s understanding of particular behaviours and social
responsibilities. This is especially true for the Christian Laws section,
the section which addresses the use of gemstones: this section was not
superseded by anything in Járnsíða or Jónsbók, the two codes presented to
Icelanders by the Norwegian king after the incorporation of Iceland into
the Norwegian Realm in 1262–64. This meant that “the demand for the
old church laws thus continued well into the fourteenth century.”115
In the Christian Laws section, prohibitions surrounding the use of
stones appear following the prohibitions against heathen worship and the
practising of magic on livestock and people, and before the legal handling
of berserk frenzies. This placement associates the use of stones with pre-
Christian behaviours. The statement reads as follows:
Menn scolo eigi fara meþ steina. eþa magna þa til þess at binda á
menn eþa a fé manna. Ef meN trva a steina til heilindis ser. eþa fé.
oc varþar fiorbaugs Garþ.116
(People should not use stones or empower them in order to attach
them to people or livestock. If people believe in stones for their
health or for the health of their livestock, the penalty is lesser out-
lawry.)
There are several points to note in this statement. Firstly, the text is
equivocal in its understanding of the origin of stones’ powers: on the one
hand, stones could potentially have latent inherent properties (since peo-
ple should not “fara meþ” stones); on the other hand, they could be filled
with power (“magna”) by humans. Secondly, the text suggests stones work
through physical contact with bodies, “binda á” people and livestock. This
aligns with how stones typically operate in the lapidary tradition, and also
114 E.g., the relevant Christian Laws section only appears in GKS 1157, and not AM 344.
115 Dennis, Foote and Perkins, Laws, 16.
116 Grágás: Konungsbók, ed. by Vilhjálmur Finsen (Odense: Universitetsforlag, 1974), 23.
LAPIDARIES AND L Y F S T E I N A R