484 THE LAND. 



he does not spoil another's hunting. ... A spear-fence shall 

 not stand longer than ten winters " (Frostath., xiv. 9). 



Later, and after the establishment of the kingdom of Harald 

 Fairhair, the commons as well as the odal became the property 

 of the king ; and William the Conqueror, after the conquest 

 of England, considered himself to have the same powers as 

 those usurped by Harald Fairhair and other northern kings. 



" King Harald became the owner of all odals, and of all the 

 land cultivated and uncultivated in every Fylki, and even of 

 the sea and the rivers and lakes. All boendr were to be his 

 tenants, both those who cultivated the field and the saltniakers ; 

 and all fishermen, hunters and trappers, both on sea and on 

 land, were his men " (Egil's Saga, c. 4). 1 



If a person had been living on a common during the time 

 of three kings, none of whom reigned less than ten years, he 

 had thereby acquired full and legal rights to his land, even 

 though he lacked the formal consent of the king. 



" If a steward or messenger of the king charges a man with 

 dwelling on land taken from the common without the king's 

 leave, and the man answers that the land has been held by 

 him during the lives of three kings, none of whom ruled less 

 than three winters, then if the steward or king's messenger 

 denies this he shall bring forward witnesses" (Frostath., 

 xiv. 7). 



When the king gave land to a man, his successor could 

 take it back, so the gift was only valuable for the lifetime of 



the king. 



The customs which regulated settlements made on the land 

 in Iceland were probably very ancient, but it is impossible to 

 tell whether they were handed down from the time of the first 

 settlers in the North. 



Asbjorn, son of Heyangrs-Bjorn, a hersir (chief) 2 in Sogn, 

 died at sea on his journey to Iceland, but Thorgerd, his wife 

 and their sons came to Iceland. 



"It was the custom that a woman should not take up more 

 land than a half-grown and well-kept heifer, two winters old, 

 could be led across during the spring-long day from sunrise 



i Cfr. also Heimskringla. 51, 52. | " See p. 491. 



