The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2001, Side 42

168
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 56 #3
what they have as means of proof” and
they must plead in person or lose their law-
suit. Twenty-first century Canada rarely
performs better in its law courts.
This, then, is a society ruled by law and
reciprocal relationships. “A land deal is to
be formally agreed” by both parties; other-
wise it is as if no deal is made. They are to
arrange between them to walk the bound-
aries . . .” together (II, 101). The test for an
heir’s mental capacity is straightforward, so
to speak: “That man is also not a lawful heir
who does not know whether a trough-sad-
dle is to face forwards or backwards on a
horse, or which way he should face” (II, 5-
6). Then there are whale fishermen’s rights
to “finder’s blubber” (II, 147), the farmer’s
“ownership marks ... on the ears” of live-
stock (II, 168-9), “commune rules” for vil-
lages of “twenty householders or more”
(II, 185), and rules against transvestism (II,
219). This brief itemisation of rights and
duties only begins to catalogue the culture,
making law the mirror for daily life in
medieval Iceland.
Legal historians can no longer ignore
the Gragas, for its intrinsic textual value
and even more for its comparative value in
studying the world’s great legal systems.
Scandinavian and German philologists
have worked closely since the 1800s on its
unique linguistic structure and its vocabu-
lary. Thanks to the University of Manitoba
Press, an education full of wonders awaits
English readers of this beautiful and error-
free book.

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& Sons
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The Culinary Saga
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