Page 34 - All About History - Issue 59-17

Norse culture

The Norwegians settled in Scotland, Ireland and that the Danelaw was any more lawless than
Iceland; the Swedes in Russia, the Baltic, and neighbouring Wessex. In fact, Viking justice has
Eastern Europe; the Danes in England and France. left a legacy that endures to this day — the English
With the flourishing of Viking settlements came word ‘law’ derives directly from Old Norse.
the spread of their laws. Archaeological evidence As a system of law and order, the Thing had its
for Things have been found in the Isle of Man, the faults, such as being open to corruption and overly
Faroe Islands, Scotland and beyond. In many of reliant on an unswerving belief in the will of the
these places, honorary Things still assemble. gods. But it was inclusive, giving the ordinary man
In England, meanwhile, the Danelaw a voice and placing the strong Viking values of
represented a geographical area negotiated honour and fairness at its core. It was this strength
through various battles and treaties but it was that was to carry it through many years of change,
the foundation of many aspects of modern law ensuring that smash-and-grab raiders could spread
that we know today. Far from being oppressed their influence throughout entire countries and on
and enslaved, the parts of England under Viking through the centuries to the enduring legacy that The Vikings exported their laws
rule continued to thrive and there’s no evidence we have today. to their colonies, including Britain

The law of the land Where Vikings went, Things followed

Thingvellir, Iceland Gulatinget, Norway
Established in 930, the Allthing The largest and oldest assembly in
was held in the Icelandic region of Norway was held in Gulen in around
Thingvellir for 850 years from 930 900-1300. The Gulating served as a
until 1798. The assembly would meet model for the Things held in Iceland
for two weeks at the Lögberg (‘Law and the Faroe Islands, and the
Rock’) each year. Nearby Drowning Gulating Code of Law remains the
Pool and Gallows Rock hint at oldest known Nordic body of laws.
some of the grimmer aspects of
the proceedings.
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Tingwall, Shetland
A small promontory on Tingwall
Loch called Tingaholm was the site of
Shetland’s local parliament until the late
16th century. Officials are thought to have
sat around a
rough stone
table, while
delegates
gathered on the
Tinganes, Faroe Islands slope below the
The free men of nearby church.
the Faroe Islands
met each summer
on a rocky
outcrop on the
shore of Tórshavn
from 825 until 1816, though by that time Dingwall, Scotland
meetings had moved indoors. The islands This Highland meeting
were also administered by six local courts, place was established by
known as ‘thingsteads’, which met in spring. Thornfinn the Mighty, a
powerful Viking earl who
died in 1065. Its location
was long lost but
archaeologists uncovered
evidence of it beneath a
car park in 2013.
Tynwald Hill, Isle of Man Fingay Hill, England
The traditional meeting place of the York was the seat of Viking power in England,
Manx parliamentary assembly is in so it’s perhaps no surprise that evidence a
the village of Saint John’s. Though Thing has been
established by the Vikings a millennium found nearby. Other
ago, the mound English Thing sites © Getty Images, Google Maps
is thought to include Thingwala
have been in Whitby and
built in the Dingbell Hill
13th century. in Northumbria.