Laws of Torvaldsland

"With law must our land be built, or with lawlessness laid waste"
Njal's Saga Chapter 70

The Laws of Torvaldsland are the same as those of the Vikings of Iceland from which the Torvaldslanders were originally taken. The only significant difference being that the Law's given in the books are very simplified versions of their Viking counterparts . The Laws on this page which are found in Marauders of Gor will be accompanied by the book reference to them. The rest are Laws which will be included from historical sources of the Vikings.

The Laws not detailed in Marauders of Gor will be drawn from the Sagas of the Icelanders. Other parts of this page will be drawn from Chapter 9 of the book "Viking Age Iceland" by Jesse Byrock which covers the Legislative and Judicial System. As you will see, many of them are indeed the basis for the Laws given in Marauders of Gor.

Where these Laws expand on what is given in Marauders, the information will be included together to give a better idea of the Law with the exerpts from Marauders given first. An example of this is the Law of Outlawry. In Marauders there is only one Outlawry. It was a judgement put forth by the High Jarl alone against the advice of the Rune Priests and his own men and it could be revoked with the payment of a weregild. Among the Vikings, Outlawry was of two kinds and both were irrevokable, and a weregild had no effect on it. The Law on Outlawry will be expanded on below, in the section covering Outlawry.

The Thing

The Forkbeard, too, and his men, were armed. Blows are not to be struck at the thing, but not even the law of the thing, with all its might, would have the temerity to advise the man of Torvaldsland to arrive or move about unarmed. The man of Torvaldsland never leaves his house unless he is armed; and, within his house, his weapons are always near at hand, usually hung on the wall behind his couch, at least a foot beyond the reach of a bond-maid whose ankle is chained. Should she, lying on her back, look back and up she sees, on the wall, the shield, the helmet, the spear and ax, the sword, in its sheath, of her master. They are visible symbols of the force by which she is kept in bondage, by which she is kept only a girl, whose belly is beneath his sword.
Most of the men at the thing were free farmers, blond-haired, blue-eyed and proud, men with strong limbs and work-roughened hands; many wore braided hair; many wore talmits of their district; for the thing their holiday best had been donned; many wore heavy woolen jackets, scrubbed with water and bosk urine, which contains ammonia as it�s cleaning agent; all were armed, usually with ax or sword; some wore their helmets; others had them, with their shields, slung at their back. At the thing, to which each free man must come, unless he work his farm alone and cannot leave it, each man must present, for the inspection of his Jarl�s officer, a helmet, shield and either sword or ax or spear, in good condition. Each man, generally, save he in the direct hire of the Jarl, is responsible for the existence and condition of his own equipment and weapons. A man in direct fee with the Jarl is, in effect, a mercenary; the Jarl himself, from his gold, and stores, where necessary or desirable, arms the man; this expense, of course, is seldom necessary in Torvaldsland; sometimes, however, a man may break a sword or lose an ax in battle, perhaps in the body of a foe, falling from a ship; in such a case the Jarl would make good the loss; he is not responsible for similar losses, however, among free farmers. Those farmers who do not attend the thing, being the sole workers on their farms, must, nonetheless, maintain the regulation armament; once annually it is to be presented before a Jarl�s officer, who, for this purpose, visits various districts. When the war arrow is carried, of course, all free men are to respond; in such a case the farm may suffer, and his companion and children know great hardship; in leaving his family, the farmer, weapons upon his shoulder, speaks simply to them. �The war arrow has been carried to my house,� he tells them.
We saw, too, many chieftains, and captains, and minor Jarls, in the crowd, each with his retinue. These high men were sumptuously garbed, richly cloaked and helmeted, often with great axes, inlaid with gold. Their cloaks were usually scarlet or purple, long and swirling, and held with golden clasps. They wore them, always, as is common in Torvaldsland, in such a way that the right arm, the sword arm, is free. Their men, too, often wore cloaks, and, about their arms, spiral rings of gold and silver, and, on their wrists, jewel-studded bands.
In the crowd, too, much in evidence, were brazen bond-maids; they had been brought to the thing, generally, by captains and Jarls; it is not unusual for men to bring such slaves with them, though they are not permitted near the law courts or the assemblies of deliberation; the voyages to the thing were not, after all, ventures of raiding; they were not enterprises of warfare; there were three reasons for bringing such girls; they were for the pleasure of men; they served, as display objects, to indicate the wealth of their masters; and they could be bought and sold.
Marauders of Gor; Pages 141-143

We saw thralls, too, in the crowd, and rune-priests, with long hair, in white robes, a spiral ring of gold on their left arms, about their waist a bag of omens chips, pieces of wood soaked in the blood of the sacrificial bosk, slain to open the thing; these chips are thrown like dice, sometimes several times, and are then read by the priests; the thing-temple, in which the ring of the temple is kept, is made of wood; nearby, in a grove, hung from poles, were bodies of six bosk, one of them the ceremonial bosk, six tarsk, and six verr; in past days, it is my understanding, there might have hung there, in the place of the six verr, six thralls; it had been decided, however, a generation ago, by one of the rare meetings of the high council of rune-priests, attended by the high rune-priests of each district, that thralls should no longer be sacrificed; this was not defended, however, on grounds of the advance of civilization, or such, but rather on the grounds that thralls, like urts and tiny six-toed tharlarion, were not objects worthy of sacrifice; there had been a famine and many thralls had been sacrificed; in spite of this the famine had not abated for more than four growing seasons; this period, too, incidentally, was noted for the large number of raids to the south, often involving entire fleets from Torvaldsland; it had been further speculated that the gods had no need of thralls, or, if they did, they might supply this need themselves, or make this need known through suitable signs; no signs, however, luckily for thralls, were forthcoming; this was taken as a vindication of the judgment of the high council of rune-priests; after the council, the status of rune-priests had risen in Torvaldsland; this may also have had something to do with the fact that the famine, finally, after four seasons, abated; the status of the thrall, correspondingly, however, such as it was, declined; he was now regarded as much in the same category with the urts that one clubs in the Sa-Tarna sheds, or are pursued by small pet sleen, kept there for that purpose, or with the tiny, six-toed rock tharlarion of southern Torvaldsland, favored for their legs and tails, which are speared by children. If the thrall had been nothing in Torvaldsland before, he was now less than nothing; his status was now, in effect, that of the southern, male work slave, found often in the quarries and mines, and, chained, on the great farms. He, a despised animal, must obey instantly and perfectly, or be subject to immediate slaughter. The Forkbeard had bought one thrall with him, the young man, Tarsk, who, even now, followed in the retinue of the Forkbeard; it was thought that if the Forkbeard should purchase a crate of sleen fur or a chest of bog iron the young man, on his shoulders, might then bear it back to our tent, pitched among other tents, at the thing; bog iron, incidentally, is inferior to the iron of the south; the steel and iron of the weapons of the men of Torvaldsland, interestingly, is almost uniformly of southern origin; the iron extracted from bog ore is extensively used, however, for agricultural implements.
Marauders of Gor; Pages 152-153

�Do we, free men of Torvaldsland,� called our Svein Blue Tooth, �grant permission to the Kurii to traverse our land?�
�No!� cried one man.
�No,� cried others.
Then the entire field was aflame with the shouts of angry men.
�A thousand of you can die beneath the claws of a single Kur!� cried the Kur.
There were more angry shouting, brandishing of weapons. The speaker, the Kur, with the golden spiral bracelet, turned angrily away. He was followed by the two others.
�Fall back!� cried out Svein Blue Tooth. �The peace of the thing is upon them!�
Men fell back, and, between them, shambling, swiftly moved the three Kurs.
�We are done with them,� said Ivar Forkbeard.
�Tomorrow,� called Svein Blue Tooth, �we will award the talmits for excellence in the contests.� He laughed. �And tomorrow night we shall feast!�
There was much cheering, much brandishing of weapons.
�I have won six talmits,� Ivar Forkbeard reminded me.
�Will you dare to claim them?� I asked.
He looked at me, as though I might be mad. �Of course,� said he, �I have won them.�
Marauders of Gor; Pages 179-180

�This man,� called out Svein Blue Tooth, obviously impressed, �has earned in these contests six talmits. Never in the history of the thing has there been so high a winner.� Svein Blue Tooth was of Torvaldsland himself. He well understood the mightiness of the winner�s exploits. It was rare for one man to win even two talmits. Thousands entered the contests. Only one, in each contest, could achieve the winner�s talmit. �I distinguish myself, and enter into the history of our land,� said the Blue Tooth, �in being the high Jarl to award these talmits in the games. As we honor this man we, in doing this, similarly do honor unto ourselves.� This was cultural in Torvaldsland. One is regarded as being honored when one rightly bestows honor. It is not like one man taking something from another, so much as it is like an exchanging of gifts. To a somewhat lesser extent, it might be mentioned, this is also cultural in the south.
Svein Blue Tooth was obviously pleased that it had been in his Jarlship that six talmits had been won at the thing by a single, redoubtable champion.
...
My heart sank.
It was obviously the intent of Svein Blue Tooth, himself, to honor this great winner, to bind on his forehead, with his own hands, the talmits.
The Blue Tooth reached to brush back the hood. Ivar drew back his head.
Svein Blue Tooth laughed. �Do not fear, Champion,� said he. �There is none here who believes your name, truly, to be Thorgeir of Ax Glacier.�
Ivar Forkbeard shrugged and spread his hands, as though he had been found out, as though his ruse had failed.
I felt like beating his head in with the handle of an ax.
�What is your name, Champion?� asked Bera, the woman of Jarl Svein Blue Tooth.
Ivar was silent.
�That you have disguised yourself tells us,� said the Blue Tooth, �that you are outlaw.�
Ivar looked at him, as though startled at his perception.
�But the peace of the thing is upon you,� said Svein Blue Tooth. �You are safe among us. Do not fear, great Champion. We meet here not to threaten you, but to do you honor. Be not afraid, for the peace of the thing is upon you, as on all men here.�
�Great Jarl,� said Ivar Forkbeard, �will you swear upon me the oath of peace, for the time of the thing, your personal oath, sworn upon the ring of the temple of Thor?�
�It is not necessary,� said the Blue Tooth, �but, if you wish, this oath I will swear.�
The Forkbeard bowed his head in humble petition.
The great ring of the temple of Thor, stained in the blood of the sacrificial ox, was brought. It was held in the hands of the high rune-priest of the thing. Svein Blue Tooth grasped it in both hands. �I swear upon you the peace of the thing,� said he, �and I make this oath of peace, for the time of the thing, mine own as well.�
I breathed more easily. I saw the Forkbeard�s men about me visibly relax.
Only the Forkbeard did not seem satisfied.
�Swear, too,� he suggested, �by the side of the ship, by the shield�s rim, by the sword�s edge.�
Svein Blue Tooth looked at him, puzzled. �I so swear,� he said.
�And, too,� begged the Forkbeard, �by the fires of your hearth, by the timbers of the hall and the pillars of your high seat.�
�Come now!� said Svein Blue Tooth.
�My Jarl�� begged the Forkbeard.
�Very well,� said the Blue Tooth, �I swear by the ship�s side, the shield�s rim, the sword�s edge, the fires of my hearth, the timbers of my hall and the pillars of the high seat in my house.�
He then made ready to brush back the hood, but the Forkbeard drew back once more.
�Will you swear, too,� he asked, �by the grains of your fields, the boundary stones of your holdings, the locks on your chests and the salt on your table?�
�Yes, yes!� said Svein Blue Tooth, irritatedly. �I so swear.�
The Forkbeard seemed lost in thought. I assumed he was trying to think of ways to strengthen the Blue Tooth�s oath. It seemed to me a mighty oath already. I thought it quite sufficient.
�And, too, I swear,� said Svein Blue Tooth, �by the bronze of my ladles and the bottoms of my butter pans!�
�That will not be necessary,� said the Forkbeard, generously.
�What is your name, Champion?� asked Svein Blue Tooth.
Ivar Forkbeard threw back his hood. �My name is Ivar Forkbeard,� he said.
Marauders of Gor; Pages 182-185

The Law-Speaker is still allowed to engage in feuds and also in litigation. He can take sides in this litigation so it is unclear exactly how much official power the Law-Speaker holds. It is unknown how he decides what to recite at the Law-Rock and that choice may provide him with some leverage. His duty is only to answer questions when asked, leaving it up to the individuals to know the proper questions to ask. This knowledge comes from the stories of settlements (both in and out of court), feuds, disputes and legal cases.

The talmit is a headband. It is not unusual for the men of Torvaldsland to wear them, though none of Forkbeard�s men did.. They followed an outlaw. Some talmits have special significance. Special talmits sometime distinguish officers, and Jarls; or a district�s lawmen, in the pay of the Jarl; the different districts, too, sometimes have different styles of talmit, varying in their material and design; talmits, too, can be awarded as prizes.
Marauders of Gor p 139

Jarls appoint officers and men to work for them in the area or district they control to keep order. These men wear special talmits designating them as such and answer directly to the Jarl for their behavior. These are the men who go around once per year to inspect the weapons of the farmers who could not attend the Thing. These men are also the ones who go to the courts at the Thing, both the annual one and the smaller ones held by the Jarls of the District and testify for or against people.

The Jarls of a district also throw smaller Things to settle the legal issues of a district. These Things generally last around a week and are divided into two parts. These parts are the Courts of Prosecution, or S�knarthing, and Courts of Payment, or Skuldathing, which are panels dealing with debts. The Jarl names twelve officers, known as b�ndr who serve on the panels of judges, that act very much like juries. As the Jarls officially take no part in the legal process beyond naming the judges, they are free to take part in the litigation and maneuvers that take place out-of-court. The Courts of Prosecution last for four days and then the Courts of Payment take place and people enter the courts to settle debts and put values on goods traded within the district.

These smaller Things also allow the Jarl to see how many men he has under his control as they all attend these meetings, even if they do not attend the larger annual Thing due to having to work their farms or whatever reasons might cause them to miss the Thing.

Duels

�I am an outlaw,� said Ivar. �In a duel I killed Finn Broadbelt.�
�It was in a duel,� I said.
Marauders of Gor p 93

�Let us watch duels,� said the Forkbeard. The duel is a device by which many disputes, legal and personal, are settled in Torvaldsland. There are two general sorts, the formal duel and the free duel. The free duel permits all weapons; there are no restrictions on tactics or field. At the thing, of course, adjoining squares are lined out for these duels. If the combatants wished, however, they might choose another field. Such duels, commonly, are held on wave-struck skerries in Thassa. Two men are left alone; later, at nightfall, a skiff returns, to pick up the survivor. The formal duel is quite complex, and I shall not describe it in detail. Two men meet, but each is permitted a shield bearer; the combatants strike at one another, and the blows, hopefully, are fended by each�s shield bearer; three shields are permitted to each combatant; when these are hacked to pieces or otherwise rendered useless, his shield bearer retires, and he must defend himself with his own weapon alone; swords not over a given length, too, are prescribed. The duel takes place, substantially, on a large, square cloak, ten feet on each side, which is pegged down on the turf; outside this cloak there are two squares, each a foot from the cloak, drawn in the turf. The outer corners of the second of the two drawn squares are marked with hazel wands; there is this a twelve-foot-square fighting area; no ropes are stretched between the hazel wands. When the first blood touches the cloak the match may, at the agreement of the combatants, or in the discretion of one of the two referees, be terminated; a price of three silver tarn disks is then paid to the victor by the loser; the winner commonly then performs a sacrifice; if the winner is rich, and the match of great importance, he may slay a bosk; if he is poor, or the match is not considered a great victory, his sacrifice may be less. These duels, particularly of the formal variety, are sometimes used disreputably for gain by unscrupulous swordsmen. A man, incredibly enough, may be challenged risks his life among the hazel wands; he may be slain; then, too, of course, the stake, the farm, the companion, the daughter, is surrendered by law to the challenger. The motivation of this custom, I gather, is to enable strong, powerful men to obtain land and attractive women; and to encourage those who possess such to keep themselves in fighting condition. All in all I did not much approve of the custom. Commonly, of course, the formal duel is used for more reputable purposes, such as settling grievances over boundaries, or permitting an opportunity where, in a case of insult, satisfaction might be obtained.
One case interested us in particular. A young man, not more than sixteen, was preparing to defend himself against a large burly fellow, bearded and richly helmeted.
�He is a famous champion,� said Ivar, whispering to me, nodding to the large burly fellow. �He is Bjarni of Thorstein Camp.� Thorstein Camp, well to the south, but yet north of Einar�s Skerry, was a camp of fighting men, which controlled the countryside about it, for some fifty pasangs, taking tribute from the farms. Thorstein of Thorstein�s Camp was their Jarl. The camp was od wood, surrounded by a palisade, built on an island in an inlet, called the inlet of Thorestein Camp, formally known as the inlet of Parsit, because of the rich fishing there.
The stake in this challenge was the young man�s sister, a comely, blond lass of fourteen, with braided hair. She was dressed in the full regalia of a free woman of the north. The clothes were not rich, but they were clean, and her best. She wore two brooches; and black shoes. The knife had been removed from the sheath at her belt; she stood straight, but her head was down, her eyes closed; about her neck, knotted, was a rope, it fastened to a stake in the ground near the dueling square. She was not otherwise secured.
�Forfeit the girl,� said Bjarni of Thorstein Camp, addressing the boy, �and I will not kill you.�
�I do not care much for the making women of Torvaldsland bond,� said Ivar. �It seems improper,� he whispered to me. �They are of Torvaldsland!�
�Where is the boy�s father?� I asked one who stood next to me.
�He was slain in an avalanche,� said the man.
I gathered then that the boy was then owner of the farm. He had become, then, the head of his household. It was, accordingly, up to him to defend as best he could, against such a challenge.
�Why do you challenge a baby?� asked Ivar Forkbeard.
Bjarni looked upon him, not pleasantly. �I want the girl for Thorstein Camp,� he said. �I have no quarrel with children.�
�Will she be branded there, and collared?� asked Ivar.
�Thorstein Camp has no need for free women.�
�She is of Torvaldsland,� said Ivar.
�She can be taught to squirm and carry mead as well as any other wench,� said Bjarni.
I had no doubt this was true. Yet the girl was young. I doubted that a girl should be put in collar before she was fifteen.
Ivar looked at me. �Would you like to carry my shield?� he asked.
I smiled. I went to the young man, who was preparing to step into the area of hazel wands. He was quite a brave lad.
Another youngster, about his own age, probably from an adjoining farm, would carry his shield for him.
�What�s your name, Lad?� I asked the young man preparing to enter the square marked off with the hazel wands.
�Hrolf,� said he, �of the Inlet of Green Cliffs.�
I then took both of the boys, by the scruff, and threw them, stumbling, more than twenty feet away to the grass.
I stepped on the leather of the cloak. �I�m the champion,� said I, �of Hrolf of Inlet of Green Cliffs.� I unsheathed the sword I wore at my belt.
�He is mad,� said Bjarni.
�Who is your shield bearer?� asked one of the two white-robed referees.
�I am!� called the Forkbeard, striding into the area of hazel wands.
�I appreciate the mad bravery,� said I, �of the good fellow Thorgeir of Ax Glacier, but, as we all know, the men of Ax Glacier, being of a hospitable and peaceful sort, are unskilled in weapons.� I looked at the Forkbeard. �We are not hunting whales now,� I told him, �Thorgeir.�
The Forkbeard spluttered.
I turned to the referee. �I cannot accept his aid,� I told him. �It would too much handicap me,� I explained, �being forced, doubtless, to constantly look out for, and protect, one of his presumed ineptness.�
�Ineptness!� thundered the Forkbeard.
�You are of Ax Glacier, are you not?� I asked him, innocently. I smiled to myself. I had, I thought, hoisted the Forkbeard by his own petard.
He laughed, and turned about, taking his place on the side.
�Who will bear your shield?� asked one of the referees.
�My weapon is my shield,� I told him, lifting the sword. �He will not strike me.�
�What do you expect to do with that paring knife?� asked Bjarni of Thorstein Camp, looking at me puzzled. He thought me mad.
�Your long sword,� I told him, �is doubtless quite useful in thrusting over the balwarks of ships, fastened together by grappling irons, as mine would not be, but we are not now, my dear Bjarni, engaging in combat over the bulwarks of ships.�
�I have reach on you!� he cried.
�But my blade will protect me,� I said. �Moreover, the arc of your stroke is wider then mine, and your blade heavier. You shall shortly discover that I shall be behind your guard.�
�Lying sleen!� cried out the man of Thorstein Camp.
The girl, the rope on her throat, looked wildly at me. The two boys, white-faced, stood behind the hazel wands. They understood no more of what was transpiring than most others of those present.
The chief referee looked at me. His office was indicated by a golden ring on his arm. To his credit, he had, obviously, not much approved of the former match.
�Approve me,� I told him.
He grinned. �I approve you,� said he, � as the champion of Hrolf of Inlet of Green Cliffs.� Then he said to me, �As you are the champion of the challenged, it is your right to strike the first blow.�
I tapped the shield of Bjarni of Thorstein Camp, it held by another ruffian from his camp, with the point of my sword.
�It is struck,� I said.
With a cry of rage the shield bearer of Bjarni of Thorstein Camp rushed at me, to thrust me back, stumbling, hopefully to put me off my balance, for the following stroke of his swordsman.
I stepped to one side. The shield bearer�s charge carried him almost tot he hazel wands. Bjarni, sword high, had followed him. I now stood beside Bjarni, the small sword at his neck. He turned white. �Let us try again,� I said. Quickly he fled back, and was joined by his shield bearer. In the second charge, though I do not know if it were elegant or not, given the properties of the formal duel, I tripped the shield bearer. One is not supposed to slay the shield bearer but, as far as I knew, tripping, though perhaps not in the best of form, was acceptable. I had, at any rate, seen it done in an earlier match. And, as I expected, neither of the referees warned me of an infraction. I gathered, from the swift looks on their faces, that they had thought it rather neatly done, though they are supposed to be objective in such matters. The fellow went sprawling. Bjarni, quite wisely, he obviously brighter than his shield bearer, had not followed him so closely this time, but had hung back. Our swords met twice, and then I was under his guard, the point of my sword under his chin. �Shall we try again?� I asked.
The shield bearer leaped to his feet. �Let us fight!� he cried.
Bjarni of Thorestein Camp looked at me. �No,� he said. �Let us not try again.� He took the point of his sword and made a cut in his own forearm, and held it out, over the leather. Drops fell to the leather. �My blood,� said Bjarni of Thorstein Camp, �is on the leather.� He sheathed his sword.
The girl and her brother, and his friend, and others cried with pleasure.
Her brother ran to her and untied the rope from about her neck.
His friend, though she was but fourteen, took her in his arms.
Bjarni of Thorstein Camp went to the boy whom he had challenged. From his wallet he took forth three tarn disks of silver and placed them, one after the other, in the boy�s hand. �I am sorry, Hrolf of the Inlet of Green Cliffs,� he said, �for having bothered you.�
Marauders of Gor p 145-150

Duels in Torvaldsland, as stated in the quote above, come in two varieties, the Formal Duel, or H�lmganga, and the Free Duel, or Einv�gi. These duels are just as described in Marauders and are used for just those purposes as well as a means of avoiding legal action in the Thing courts. At RedTarn's Landfall, for the Formal Duel, swords not over 36" will be used and, to simplify matters, no shield bearer will be allowed, though the combatants will still be allowed three shields. Aside from that, at RedTarn's Landfall, duels will be conducted as stated in Marauders. More specific rules for Duels can be found on the Combat Rules page.

Proving Truth

We passed one fellow, whom we noted seized up two bars of red hot metal and ran some twenty feet, and then threw them from him.
�What is he doing?� I asked.
�He is proving that he has told the truth,� said the Forkbeard.
�Oh,� I said.
Marauders of Gor p 150-151

Proving that you have told the truth is an easy matter among the Torvaldslanders. The method above is sort of a combination of how it was done by the ancestors. One method of proving truth, called Jernbyrd or 'carrying of (hot) iron', had several methods, the most common of which is to grab a piece of iron from boiling water and carry it for nine paces. Another method was walking twelve paces on red-hot irons. If after three days the feet were inspected and the burns were without infection then the Gods must be protecting the one telling the truth.

Outlawry

�Well,� said Ivar Forkbeard to me, �I am an outlaw.�
�I did not know that,� I said.
�That is one reason,� said he, �that my hall is not of wood.�
Marauders of Gor p 91

�I am an outlaw,� said Ivar. �In a duel I killed Finn Broadbelt.�
�It was in a duel,� I said.
�Finn Broadbelt was the cousin of Jarl Svein Blue Tooth.
�Ah,� I said. Svein Blue Tooth was the high jarl of Torvaldsland, in the sense that he was generally regarded as the most powerful. In his hall, it was said he fed a thousand men. Beyond this his heralds could carry the war arrow, it was said, to ten thousand farms. Ten ships he had at his own wharves, and, it was said, he could summon a hundred more �He is your Jarl?� I asked.
�He was my Jarl,� said Ivar Forkbeard.
�The wergild must be high,� I speculated.
The Forkbeard looked at me, and grinned. �It was set so high,� said he, �out of the reach of custom and law, against the protests of the rune-priests and his own men, that none, in his belief, could pay it.�
�And thus,� said I, �that your outlawry would remain in effect until you were apprehended or slain?�
�He hoped to drive me from Torvaldsland,� said Ivar.
�He has not succeeded in doing so,� I said.
Ivar grinned. �He does not know where I am,� said he. �If he did, a hundred ships might enter the inlet.�
�How much,� asked I, �is the wergild?�
�A hundred stone of gold,�� said Ivar.
�You have taken that much, or more,� said I, �in the sack of Kassau�s temple.�
�And the weight of a full-grown man in the sapphires of Schendi,� said the Forkbeard.
I said nothing.
�Are you not surprised?� asked Ivar.
�It seems a preposterous demand,� I admitted, smiling.
�You know, however, what I did in the south?� asked Ivar.
�It is well known,� I said, �that you freed Chenbar, the Sea Sleen, Ubar of Tyros, from the chains of a dungeon of Port Kar, your fee being his weight in the sapphires of Schendi.�
I did not mention to the Forkbeard that it had been I, as Bosk of Port Kar, admiral of the city, who had been responsible for the incarceration of Chenbar.
Yet I admired the audacity of the man of Torvaldsland, though his act, in freeing Chenbar to act against me, had almost cost me my life last year in the northern forests. Sarus of Tyros, acting under his orders, had struck to cap�ture both Marlenus of Ar and myself. He had failed to capture me, and I had, eventually, managed to free Marlen�us, his men and mine, and defeat Sarus.
�Now,� laughed Ivar Forkbeard, �I expect that these nights Svein Blue Tooth rests less well in his furs.�
�You have already,� I said, �accumulated one hundred stone of gold and the weight of Chenbar of Tyros, the Sea Sleen, in the sapphires of Schendi.�
�But there is one thing more which the Blue Tooth demanded of me,� said Ivar.
�The moons of Gor?� I asked.
�No,� said he, �the moon of Scagnar.�
�I do not understand,� I said.
�The daughter,� said he, �of Thorgard of Scagnar, Hilda the Haughty.�
Marauders of Gor p 93-95

The talmit is a headband. It is not unusual for the men of Torvaldsland to wear them, though none of Forkbeard�s men did.. They followed an outlaw. Some talmits have special significance. Special talmits sometime distinguish officers, and Jarls; or a district�s lawmen, in the pay of the Jarl; the different districts, too, sometimes have different styles of talmit, varying in their material and design; talmits, too, can be awarded as prizes.
Marauders of Gor p 139

Outlawry is a very serious penalty and is only levied in the most extreme of circumstances. When a person is outlawed they can be killed without fear of retribution, with no worries of vengeance being exacted, although sometimes this rule is broken. Outlawry gives Torvaldsland a simple, efficient and cost-effective way of getting rid of troublemakers. It does away with the need to maintain a body of law officers dedicated to overseeing corporal punishment, execution or incarceration.

There are two main types of Outlawry. The first is Lesser Outlawry, or fj�rbaugsgar�r, and the second is Full Outlawry, or sk�ggangr, literally translated as 'forest-going'. Both sentences of Outlawry included full confiscation of all property. Lesser Outlawry carries with it a sentence of three years exile abroad. If a lesser outlaw, or fj�rbaugsma�r, fails to leave Torvaldsland within three years he becomes a full outlaw, or sk�garma�r. A full outlaw is denied all assistance in Torvaldsland. He is not to be harbored by anyone. He can also not be helped to leave Torvaldsland. This is tantamount to a death sentence as a full outlaw can be killed with impunity by anyone. The Law-Council at the annual Thing can mitigate a sentence of full outlawry, allowing the outlaw to leave Torvaldsland for life.

A third type of Outlawry was District Outlawry, or h�ra�ssekt. This is a judgement that is generally limited to a local district, or h�ra�. This sentence will be passed for such breaking of laws which impact a district, but not the whole of Torvaldsland. This sentence is for a three year period and, if ignored, will be referred to the courts at the Thing for a sentence of Lesser Outlawry which enables the outlaw to be killed.

Due to the seriousness of the penalty of Outlawry it requires, in the majority of cases, a substantial consensus. Here is where Viking Law differs from Norman's Torvaldslandic Law, which allowed the High Jarl to pass an Outlawry alone. Also, Torvaldslandic Law allowed a wergild to end the Outlawry, whereas the Laws of the Vikings allowed only time to possibly end it. For the purposes of this gathering of Laws, either may be the case, either timed Outlawry or until a wergild is paid, may be the judgement passed down.

Brotherhood

The practice of Sworn Brotherhood, known as f�stbr��ralag, was seen as another form of Foster-brotherhood. Instead of being arranged by the parents to strengthen relations between the families, Sworn Brotherhood was decided by the individuals themselves. The individuals literally became 'Blood Brothers'. They swore unending loyalty to each other and sealed the pact by going through a religious ceremony. This ceremony involved a type of symbolic rebirth during which they joined blood and passed through an arch of raised turf (Gisli Sursson's Saga ch 6), called a jar�armen. This is prepared the following way in the Sagas: 'A long piece of sod was cut from a grassy field but the ends left uncut. It was raised into an arch, under which the person carrying out the ritual had to pass' (The Saga of The People of Laxardal, ch 18).

Free Companionship

Once the woman is Companioned, she begins to wear her hair dressed with combs as a sign that she is now Free Companioned. Women who are not Companioned commonly do not wear their hair dressed.

Naming

The Ritual of Naming, or vatni ausinn, is simply where the parents of the baby present the child to a Rune Priest. The Rune Priest sprinkles water over the child as the parents name the child publicly. This signifies that the child is initiated into society and cannot be taken out to die of exposure as is done with babies in hard winters.

Enslavement

He then drew with the handle of his ax a circle, some twenty feet in diameter, in the dirt floor of the temple.
It was a bond-maid circle.
Marauders of Gor p 44

�Go to the bond-maid circle,� said Ivar Forkbeard, indicating the circle he had drawn in the dirt.
The women cried out in misery. To enter the circle, if one is a female, is, by the laws of Torvaldsland, to declare oneself a bond-maid. A woman, of course, need not to enter the circle of her own free will. She may, for example, be thrown within it, naked and bound. Howsoever she enters the circle, voluntarily, or by force, free or secured, she emerges from it, by the laws of Torvaldsland, as a bond-maid.
Marauders of Gor p 44-45

Mead was replenished in the drinking horn by a dark�haired bond-maid, who filled it, head down, shyly, not look�ing at me. She was the only one in the hall who was not stripped, though, to be sure, her kirtle, by order of her master, was high on her hips, and, over the shoulders, was split to the belly. Like any other wench, on her neck, riveted, was a simple collar of black iron. She had worn a Kur collar before, and, with hundreds of others, had been rescued from the pens. The fixing of the Kur collar, it had been decided by Svein Blue Tooth, was equivalent to the fixing of the metal collar and, in itself, was sufficient to reduce the subject to slavery, which condition deprives the subject of legal status, and rights attached thereto, such as the right to stand in companionship. Accordingly, to her astonish�ment, Bera, who had been the companion of Svein Blue Tooth, discovered suddenly that she was only one wench among others. From a line, as part of his spoils, the Blue Tooth picked her out. She had displeased him mightily in recent years. Yet was the Blue Tooth fond of the arrogant wench. It was not until he had switched her, like any other girl, that she understood that their relationship had under�gone a transformation, and that she was, truly, precisely what she seemed to be, now his bond-maid. No longer would her dour presence deprive his feasts of joy. No longer would she, in her free woman�s scorn, shower contempt on bond�maids, trying to make them ashamed of their beauty. She, too, now, was no more than they. She now had new tasks to which to address herself, cooking, and churning and carry�ing water; the improvement of her own carriage, and beauty and attractiveness; and the giving of inordinate pleasure in the furs to her master, Svein Blue Tooth, Jarl of Torvalds�land; if she did not do so, well she knew, as an imbonded wench, that others would; it was not, indeed, until her re�duction to slavery that she realized, for the first time, how fine a male, how attractive and how powerful, was Svein Blue Tooth, whom she had for years taken for granted; seeing him objectively for the first time, from the perspec�tive of a slave girl, who is nothing herself, and comparing him with other free men, she realized suddenly how mighty how splendid and magnificent he truly was. She set herself diligently to please him, in service and in pleasure, and, if he would permit it, in love. Bera went to the next man, to fill his cup with mead, from the heavy, hot tankard, gripped with cloth, which she carried. She was sweating. She was barefoot. The bond-maid was happy.
Marauders of Gor p 277-278

In Torvaldsland female slaves are called bondmaids and male slaves are called thralls. To enslave a woman in Torvaldsland a bondmaid circle is drawn and the woman enters it. She doesn't have to enter it willingly, she can be thrown into it all tied up. All that matters to the Laws of Torvaldsland is that she enter the circle. Once in the circle, she leaves it a bondmaid. There is no special method of enslaving thralls, they are just enslaved.

Rules

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