similar model to that of the 'knǫrr' that Leif and Karlsefni made their voyages. These vessels, while they seem to have been constructed with little regard to the comfort of their crews, were well adapted to fulfill their duties in the more essential features of sea-worthiness and speed[1].
(13) Frjáls, a freedman, from frí-háls, i.e. having the neck free; a ring worn about the neck having been a badge of servitude. Slaves were called þrælar, thralls. The thrall was entirely under the control of his master, and could only obtain his freedom by purchase, with the master's approval. He was occasionally freed by his lord, as a reward for some especial act of devotion, for a long period of faithful service, or, in Christian times, as an act of atonement or propitiation on the part of the master. The early settlers of Iceland brought with them many of their thralls from Norway; others were captured in the westerly forays, or purchased in the British Isles,—indeed the ranks of the slaves would appear, both from actual record and from their names, to have been mainly recruited from the British Isles. The majority of these were, probably, not serfs by birth, but by conquest, as witness the case of Vifil in this saga. The freeing of thralls was very common in Iceland, and there are frequent references in the sagas to men who were themselves, or whose fathers had been, 'leysingjar,' freedmen. The master could kill his own thrall without punishment; if he killed the slave of another he was required to pay to the master the value of the slave, within three days, or he laid himself liable to condemnation to the lesser outlawry. The thralls were severely punished for their misdeeds, but if one man took into his own hands the punishment of the thralls of another, it was held to be an affront which could be, and usually was, promptly revenged by their master. It was this right of revenge for such an affront, which led Eric the Red to kill Eyiolf Saur, who had punished Eric's thralls for a crime committed against Eyiolf's kinsman, Valthiof. The master, however, was made liable for the misdeeds of his thrall, and could be prosecuted for these; the offence in Eyiolf's case was, that he took the execution of the law into his own hands[2].
(14) Dalalǫnd, lit. the Dale-lands. The region of which Aud took possession is in the western part of Iceland, contiguous to that arm of the Breidafirth [Broad-firth] which is known as Hvamms-firth. Hvammr is on the northern side of this firth at its head, and Krosshólar [Cross-hill] is hard by. Both Hvammr and Krosshólar still retain their ancient names.
(15) Vífilsdalr [Vifilsdale] unites with Laugardalr to form the Hörðadalr, through which the Hörda-dale river flows from the south into Hvamms-firth, at the south-eastern bight of that firth.
(16) Jæderen was a district in south-western Norway, in which the modern Stavanger is situated.
(17) Drangar on Horn-strands, where Eric and his father first established themselves,
- ↑ Cf. Tuxen, 'De Nordiske Langskibe,' in Aarbøger for Nord. Oldk. og Hist., 1888, pp. 47–134. For a description of the Gokstad ship see also, The Viking-ship disovered at Gokstad in Norway, described by N. Nicolaysen, Christiania, 1882.
- ↑ Cf. Maurer, Die Freigelassenen naeh altnorwegischem Rechte, Munich, 1878; Kålund, Familielivet på Island i den første Saga Periode [indtil 1030], Copenh. 1870, pp. 354–364; Keyser, Stats- og Retsforfatning i Middelalderen, Chr'a., 1867, pp. 289–295.
