Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1970, Síða 159

On legal terms in Færeyirtga saga
167
system was different, because the private nature of the dómr
long remained uppermost, but there is no reason to suppose
that a similar plural form would ever have been appropriate
to conditions there. Neither does it seem likely that a plurality
of courts was a Faroese reality. The writer may possibly have
had the notion that two courts would suit his division of the
islands into two spheres of authority, the northern len under
Brestir and Beinir, the southern under Hafgrímr.
(c) The counter-charge answers closely to formulation in
Icelandic laws (Sa maðr bleypr til ohælgi ser er frumlavpe
logmæto hleypr. til manz) and the laws give specific rights of
retaliation29. Norwegian laws have the same provisions but
their phraseology is less closely comparable. The motif is found
not infrequently in other sagas30. When the writer says at
fornum landslggum, he was doubtless not implying a contrast
with some hypothetical ný Igg. It means rather law established
from time immemorial, law unquestionably right and accep-
ted31. The compound landslqg probably reflects another re-
cognition of the foreignness of the Faroese scene (an Icelander
would hardly have used it if he was thinking of his own
native law32), but it may merely add some notion of universal
validity to the idea of permanency conveyed by forn.
(d) The breaking-up of a court by force was doubtless
possible under many circumstances. It is found elsewhere in
Icelandic stories33. Here it seems to be a dramatic extra, since
the legality of the defence and the counter-charge seem un-
29 Gg Ia § 86 (145), cf. § 87 (151), Gg II §§ 263—76 (296—305); Gul.
§ 189 (NgL I 68—9); Den ældre Frostatbings-Lov IV 20, 22 (NgL I 164,
165), cf. Járnsíða § 29 (NgL I 270).
30 Heusler, Strafrecht, 115—7.
31 But cf. Klaus von See, Altnordische Rechtswórter (Hermaea 16,
1964), 96—102. — Landslgg (forn) can be used of native, secular law as
opposed to guðs Igg, canon law, and it is conceivable — but only by a
stretch of the imagination — that the author of the saga meant to imply
a contrast between legally justified retaliation and Christian precept.
32 It is used e. g. of foreign (Norwegian) law in Gg II 70/20, 22.
33 Heusler, Strafrecht, 106; Fehdewesen, 67—9.