Miller, William Ian. Law and Legal Process

• Author: Miller, William Ian
• Title: Law and Legal Process
• Published in: Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law and Society in Saga Iceland
• Place, Publisher:  Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 1990
• Pages: 221-57
• E-text:
• Reference: Miller, William Ian. Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

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Annotation

In this chapter, Miller underlines the development of written legislation in Iceland and the attitude of the people towards it. The term vár Lǫg (“our law”) shows how the Icelanders felt themselves to be different from other countries due to their laws. Legislation was key to maintaining order: in the sagas there are recorded lists of law speakers, and several people who were well acquainted with the law are mentioned, thus showing its importance in the Icelandic society. But, at the same time, Icelanders tended to resort to feuds rather than trials. According to Miller, legal trials and feuds were not opposites, and one did not exclude the other. Miller presents several examples of how legal trials were not impartial and how both methods involved violence and insults. The end of this chapter outlines the aspects of legal procedures.

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See also

• Miller, William Ian. Introduction: The Institutional Setting and the Ranks of Persons
• Miller, William Ian. Making Sense of the Sources
• Miller, William Ian. Some Aspects of the Economy
• Miller, William Ian. Householding Patterns
• Miller, William Ian. The Bonds of Kinship
• Miller, William Ian. Feud, Vengeance, and the Disputing Process
• Miller, William Ian. Peacemaking and Arbitration
• Miller, William Ian. Concluding Observations

References

Chapter 70: með lögum skal land vort byggja: “On a more general level, it seems that people felt that law promoted order, not just the systemic order derived from the assignment of things to a place in a legal and social structure, but actual peace. The sentiment is captured in the Norse proverb invoked by Njal: "With laws shall our land be built, but with disorder [ólǫg, unlaw] laid waste” (p. 229)

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