Beyond the Fringe: Outlawry & Punishment in Grágás & the Gulaþingslǫg, c.1150-1264

Abstract

Outlawry in Medieval Scandinavia as a subject of academic interest has been growing more popular in recent years. But now, as in the 1930s when the topic first took off among Dutch and German scholars, the focus seems set on a predominantly literary study through the lens of the Icelandic sagas, with the collections and codes of law taking a back seat. While comparative studies between sagas and laws have been tackled in the past few decades, with scholars like William Ian Miller and Agneta Breisch attempting to further develop our collective understanding of the society of Commonwealth Iceland, few, if any, have adopted such a comparative approach to two different law codes. This thesis seeks to remedy this situation. By comparing the different forms of outlawry and punishment in Grágás and the Gulaþingslǫg, an improved picture shall be created of how outlawry developed and was utilized in the two different political systems that characterized twelfth and thirteenth century Iceland and Norway.