Guta lag

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had to have agreement from her giftoman (the one who received
her bride-price). The provisions here seem to be less generous than
those laid out at 20/66 70, but they may have been granted in
addition to the latter.
20/47 48. Grain and other produce were normally measured by ca-
pacity rather than weight in the Middle Ages. A laupr was barrel,
roughly equivalent to a bushel (circa thirty-six litres). It has the
same derivation as Old English l ap basket . The word laupr for
grain measure was apparently unique to Gotland and it is still
current (cf. GGD, 105 note 4; GO s. v. *l�p1; Gustavson 1940 42,
1948, 217; 1936, 300 01). The capacity measure normally in use,
equivalent to half a barrel, was variously called a sk�ppa or a
spann, depending on the part of Sweden (cf. Aakj�r 1936, 211;
Jansson 1936, 2, 5, 22). Neither is used in GL, but spannamal and
variants are found in Gotlandic dialect.
On the evidence of pollen analysis, rye began to be cultivated
in Scandinavia in the early Iron Age, but did not become a signifi-
cant crop until the Viking Age. It was more resistant to drought
and less demanding in terms of soil quality, and its good baking
qualities caused it to advance over other types of grain in the
sixteenth century. The oldest provincial laws all mention rye, it
being the only seed crop referred to in �VgL (cf. �VgL �b 81;
YVgL �b 33; �gL Kkb 2 pr). It also occurs in UL Kkb 7 5, SdmL
Kkb 5 pr; Bb 13 pr, VmL Kkb 6 4. Rye seems to have been grown
as an autumn crop and MELL Jb 29 refers to rye in such a context
that winter rye must be intended. In southern Sweden rye seems to
have been sown after 14th October (about a week later by the
NOTES 119
Gregorian calendar), that is, at the start of winter. Rye was also the
crop sown on newly cleared land (cf. Note to 48/2 3).
20/50. as she has put in (han i quam). The reference is to property
that the wife brought to a marriage, not to the wife herself. Pipping
(GLGS, 31 note 1) expands on Schlyter s translation (CIG, 48),
considering it to be a misreading. Cf. as many as they brought to
the farm (sum �ar �et i gar� flyttu) at 65/3 4.
20/52. The Gutnish expression for all children . . . equally is so
barn sum barn, literally each child the same as the other; child for
child .
20/53 54. This provision is obscure, but has presumably to be read
in conjunction with the provision at 24d/2 7 concerning the pro-
tection given to sisters by their brothers before their marriage, and
the portion given to them afterwards.
20/54 56. Normally a widow would have a right to her dowry
(haimfylgi) and bride price (morgong�va, hogsl in GL, see Note to
20/60 61), her bed and best clothes and then that part of the
inheritance which fell to her on its division: one third of the liquid
assets and land bought during the marriage, up to half the estate.
In VStL IV 3 4 6, for instance, full property sharing rights existed
with a man receiving two thirds or a half of the property on the
death of his partner and a woman a half or one third depending on
the number of offspring. In GL, however, there seems to have been
no such division and, in the case of a widow left childless, her
family reclaimed the dowry. This could represent a much older
system of inheritance than was in place on the mainland, perhaps
regarding the dowry as an advance on the woman s inheritance
(see Amira 1882 95, I, 528 30).
20/60 61. Consolation and provision (hogsl ok i�). The word hogsl
is used later in the text of a sum of money paid in compensation to
an unmarried mother by the father of her child (Chapter 20a). Al-
though no level of payment is mentioned in connection with a
widow, full hogsl for an unmarried mother was eight marks in coin
(two marks of silver). The translator of tyGL has related this word
to Middle Low German h�ger higher , but it might have resulted
from a loan word: Middle Low German hogen gladden, comfort,
console (cf. CISG, 279; Amira 1882 95, I, 521 22; GU, xxvii;
GLGS, cxiii; GLGS, Ordbok, 38 s. v. hogsl). This interpretation
would suit both situations in which the sum was to be paid: a
consolation either for loss of a husband or loss of one s honour.
120
THE LAW OF THE GOTLANDERS
The word hogsl occurs only in GL and seems to be equivalent to
the morgong�va paid by a bridegroom to his bride, according to
other provincial laws, on the morning after the wedding (the price
for her virginity). This latter also reverted to the woman if she
were widowed. S�ve (GU, xxvii) offers several alternative deriva-
tions and relationships for hogsl, including one to OWN hógr
friendly, gentle , which he thinks might support a sense equiva- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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