Here is another article that I wrote 14 years ago for the original SpikeVision website.<\/p>\n
Vargr: The Institution of Outlawry<\/p>\n
Dave Smith, 2004<\/p>\n
\u00a0The institution of outlawry for punishment of severe crimes was practiced throughout the Viking age.\u00a0\u00a0Further, the concept of outlaws being equivalent to or associated with wolves was widespread throughout northern\u00a0Europe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This article will briefly examine this practice, both from an historical and a literary standpoint.<\/p>\n
\u00a0What was Outlawry?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Although practiced throughout northern\u00a0Europe, many of the best historical and literary accounts come from\u00a0Iceland.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, many of the examples will be of Icelandic origin. Outlawry was a complex social and economic punishment, which could be imposed for a number of crimes, and which consisted of several components. The root of outlawry was banishment from the country.\u00a0\u00a0In the case of lesser outlawry, or\u00a0Fj\u00f6rbaugsgar\u00f0ur<\/em>, it was for the term of three years. In the case of greater outlawry, or\u00a0Sk\u00f3ggangur<\/em>, the banishment was for life, and after three months, the outlaw could be lawfully killed. (1)<\/p>\n \u00a0Often, rather than leaving the country, the outlawed man would take refuge in the heath or forest.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, such men were often known as forest-dwellers.<\/p>\n \u00a0The term of banishment could vary widely.\u00a0\u00a0A man\u2019s friends and family could petition the Thing for removal of the penalty, while the family of the slain could urge its extension.<\/p>\n \u00a0Grettir\u00a0decided to go on to the Thing, and to the Thing he went. The matter was taken up by the heirs of the man slain.\u00a0Thorkell\u00a0gave his hand to pay the compensation and\u00a0Grettir\u00a0was to be banished for three years. (2)<\/p>\n \u00a0In fact,\u00a0Grettir\u2019s\u00a0banishment lasted a total of twenty years.<\/p>\n \u00a0In 982 Eric the Red was outlawed for three years and used his period of banishment to organize an expedition and explore\u00a0Greenland.<\/p>\n \u00a0The outlawed man could not petition the Thing, nor could he be named as a defendant.\u00a0\u00a0If he was encountered in the land from which he was banished, he could be killed without fear of reprisal, for he was literally outside of the protection of the law.\u00a0\u00a0It was common for the friends or family of a slain man to put a price on the head of the slayer.\u00a0\u00a0In addition, the outlawed man lost all property.<\/p>\n \u00a0Though I use the term \u2018outlawed man\u2019 throughout this essay, there is evidence that a woman could also be punished in this manner.<\/p>\n \u00a0“If a man slays a woman he shall be outlawed just as if he has slain a man. If a woman slays a man, she shall be outlawed, and her kinsmen shall remove her from the land” (3)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Crimes<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>There were a number of crimes and offenses for which a man could be made an outlaw.\u00a0\u00a0These include:<\/p>\n \u00a0Murder (cited above)<\/p>\n \u00a0Theft:<\/p>\n “If a well-born woman steals, she shall be driven out of the land into another kingdom. (4)<\/p>\n \u00a0Harboring an outlaw:<\/p>\n \u00a0Grettir\u00a0stayed but a few nights with Grim, for he did not want it to become known that he was about to travel North across the Heath. Grim told him to come back to visit him if he needed protection. “Yet,” he said, “I would gladly avoid the penalty of being outlawed for\u00a0harbouring\u00a0you.” (5)<\/p>\n \u00a0Grievously insulting another man:<\/p>\n \u00a0There are three words from\u00a0maliced\u00a0verse between men, which are punished with full outlawry.\u00a0If a man calls a man\u00a0ragr\u00a0or\u00a0stro\u00f0inn\u00a0or\u00a0sor\u00f0inn.\u00a0And they shall be punished as fully slanderous words, and a man is given the right to kill for these words. (6)<\/p>\n \u00a0Going berserk (as stated in Christian law in 1123):<\/p>\n \u00a0If someone goes berserk, he is punished with lesser outlawry and the men who are present are also banished if they do not bind him. (7)<\/p>\n \u00a0Outlaws as wolves<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0The association of outlaws and wolves is very strong in the Germanic cultures. The Old Norse word\u00a0vargr<\/em>\u00a0(OSw:\u00a0vargh\u00e6r,\u00a0OHG:\u00a0warg,\u00a0OE:\u00a0wearg\u00a0)\u00a0has been translated in a number of ways, and several Indo-European root words have been claimed as its source. These include *wergh\u00a0(\u201cstrangle\u201d, via the Germanic *wargaz) (8)\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0the\u00a0Germanic \u201cwacrer\u201d (to wander).\u00a0\u00a0The latter is the root for the modern English word\u00a0vagrant.\u00a0\u00a0From the fact that the major component of outlawry was banishment, this last option seems to be the most likely source.\u00a0\u00a0Those who transgress against society are forced to wander from their homeland.<\/p>\n \u00a0After the Christianization of Northern Europe, an additional aspect of being outside of the faith as well:<\/p>\n \u00a0_Vargr_ is the same as _u-argr_, restless; _argr_ being the same as the Anglo-Saxon _earg_. _Vargr_ had its double signification in Norse. It signified a wolf, and also a godless man.(9)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0One author holds that the association between wolves and outlaws seems to be a later phenomenon particular to the Norse cultures:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u2026it is only late, and mostly in Norse, that\u00a0vargr\u00a0(cognate with\u00a0warg) acquires the meaning “wolf” along with “criminal.” In Old English,\u00a0wearg\u00a0means almost exclusively “criminal” or “accursed being.” (10)<\/p>\n \u00a0In Anglo-Saxon lands, the term \u201cwolf\u2019s-head\u201d became an accepted term for criminals (11). This connection itself is not\u00a0so\u00a0simple as it may seem.\u00a0\u00a0At first view, it seems to be made due to the similarity in temperament between wolves and criminals.\u00a0\u00a0However, deeper meanings to this connection have been suggested.\u00a0\u00a0Some authors have suggested that the condemnation of an outlaw as\u00a0vargr\u00a0is a symbolic pronouncement that the man is now a wolf, and is worthy of strangulation (12).<\/p>\n \u00a0Thus it is well seen that\u00a0Sigi\u00a0has slain the thrall and murdered him; so he is given forth to be a wolf in holy\u00a0places ,\u00a0and may no more abide in the land with his father (13)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0V\u00f6lundur,\u00a0Egill\u00a0and\u00a0Slagfinnur, the third son of\u00a0\u00cdvaldi, chose to become outlaws, and\u00a0travelled\u00a0all the way to the northernmost edge of the world, to\u00a0\u00dalfdalir\u00a0(Wolf-dales), where Gods never go. (14)<\/p>\n \u00a0One author has suggested that there is also a symbolic connection between the transformation of men into wolves, and the feminization of men through the practice of\u00a0Seidr\u00a0magic and in playing the passive role in sodomy.\u00a0\u00a0The term\u00a0ergi<\/em>,\u00a0may have applied to both of these receptive roles (15).<\/p>\n \u00a0Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Outlawry as a social institution allowed society to pass judgment and punish criminals while avoiding the authoritarian and logistical dilemma of incarceration.\u00a0\u00a0In a family-based society without clearly defined leaders, it provided a social mandate for punishment that was well-suited to the temperament and attitudes of the people.\u00a0The threat of being placed outside the bound of society\u2019s protection and ejected from the homeland was a strong deterrent to discourage anti-social or destructive behavior.<\/p>\n \u00a0The association between wolves and outlaws is a complex one, which is not necessarily clarified by analysis of linguistic structures.\u00a0\u00a0The relationship comes in part due to the temperament and unpredictability attributed to both entities, but also carries an aspect of\u00a0unholiness.\u00a0\u00a0As the wolf threatens the safety of the flock, so does the outlaw threaten the stability of\u00a0society.\u00a0Both were dwellers in the literal and metaphorical wild lands, or\u00a0utangards<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Both were to be regarded with a sense of dread, as both were outside of the social construct of normal behavior.\u00a0\u00a0The inability to predict the motives or actions of such protean beings would greatly unnerve members of a culture based on established social, familial and traditional patterns of conduct.<\/p>\n \u00a0References<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>(1) \u2018Ordered Anarchy: Evolution of the Decentralized Legal Order in the\u00a0Icelandic\u00a0Commonwealth\u2019,\u00a0Birgir\u00a0T.\u00a0Runolfsson\u00a0Solvason, 1992.<\/p>\n (2)\u00a0Grettir’s\u00a0Saga, Section XVI, (14th c. A.D.) G. H.\u00a0Hight\u00a0trans.<\/p>\n (3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Earliest Norwegian Laws,\u00a0\u00a0Lawrence\u00a0M. Larson trans. 1935.<\/p>\n (4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ibid.<\/p>\n (5)\u00a0Sta\u00f0arh\u00f3lsb\u00f3k\u00a0of\u00a0Gr\u00e1g\u00e1s,\u00a0Selv\u00e5rv\u00a0Stig\u00e5r\u00f0\u00a0trans. 1999.<\/p>\n (5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Grettir’s\u00a0Saga, Section XLVII.<\/p>\n (7) The Viking Achievement, P.G. Foote & D.M. Wilson.<\/p>\n (8)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Hellhounds, Werewolves, and the Germanic Underworld\u2019,\u00a0Alby\u00a0Stone, 1994.<\/p>\n (9)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018The Book of Were-Wolves\u2019, Sabine Baring-Gould, Project Gutenberg, 2002<\/p>\n (10) \u2018Wolf and Werewolf\u2019, Online Etymology Dictionary.<\/p>\n (11) \u2018Bums in\u00a0Brigantia: Sacred Gender-Variance in Ancient Germanic and Celtic Cultures\u2019, Phil\u00a0Hine.<\/p>\n (12) \u2018Hellhounds, Werewolves, and the Germanic Underworld\u2019,\u00a0Alby\u00a0Stone, 1994.<\/p>\n (13)\u00a0Volsunga\u00a0Saga,\u00a0ch. 1 (13th<\/sup>\u00a0c A.D.)\u00a0William Morris and\u00a0Eirikr\u00a0Magnusson\u00a0trans.<\/p>\n (14)\u00a0Rydberg\u2019s\u00a0Edda,\u00a0ch. 43, 1889\u00a0trans.<\/p>\n (15) \u2018Bums in\u00a0Brigantia: Sacred Gender-Variance in Ancient Germanic and Celtic Cultures\u2019, Phil\u00a0Hine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here is another article that I wrote 14 years ago for the original SpikeVision website. Vargr: The Institution of Outlawry Dave Smith, 2004 \u00a0The institution of outlawry for punishment of severe crimes was practiced throughout the Viking age.\u00a0\u00a0Further, the concept of outlaws being equivalent to or associated with wolves was widespread throughout northern\u00a0Europe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This article will … Continue reading From the Vaults: Vargr: The Institution of Outlawry<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93,"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spikevision.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}