THE HIES OPEN LIBRARY
LAW, KINSHIP, COMMUNITY & SOCIAL ORDER
The Medieval Law & Society collection brings together narrative sources, historical source collections, and scholarship relevant to the study of law, kinship, social organization, conflict, governance, and community life in the medieval Old Norse world.
These resources provide material for examining legal customs, assemblies, feud and reconciliation, outlawry, household and family structures, political institutions, social responsibility, and the relationship between individuals and their communities. Individual resource pages provide information about each work, its edition, its use at HIES, and access to the available online text.
The Story of Burnt Njal
George Webbe Dasent, trans. • 1861
PRIMARY SOURCE
An English translation of Njáls saga offering important material for the study of Icelandic law, assemblies, kinship, feud, reconciliation, honor, responsibility, and social relationships.
The Story of Grettir the Strong
Eiríkr Magnússon & William Morris, trans. • 1900
PRIMARY SOURCE
An English translation of Grettis saga providing material for the study of law, outlawry, reputation, kinship, social belonging, conflict, and the relationship between the individual and the community.
Social Scandinavia in the Viking Age
Mary Wilhelmine Williams • 1920
HISTORICAL SCHOLARSHIP
A historical study of Scandinavian family life, social organization, households, law, government, trade, customs, institutions, and daily life during the Viking Age.
Origines Islandicae
Guðbrandur Vigfússon & F. York Powell • 1905
SOURCE COLLECTION
A two-volume collection containing historical and literary material concerning Icelandic settlement, early law and constitution, social organization, conversion, genealogy, and the development of medieval Iceland.
The Medieval Law & Society collection will continue to develop as suitable public-domain law codes, historical sources, saga translations, scholarship, and responsibly licensed resources concerning medieval Scandinavian social institutions are identified and reviewed for inclusion.
Literary and saga sources are not treated as simple documentary records of medieval society. They are studied critically alongside legal texts, historical evidence, archaeology, and scholarship to better understand the societies in which these traditions developed and were preserved.
Inclusion in the Open Library does not mean that every resource is required reading within the Bachelor of Eddic Studies program.