548 



INDEMNIT Y, WEE EGILD. 



most hopes of receiving such a dignity, and until his fortieth 

 year enjoyed the same rett as his father, yet, in case he had 

 not before that time really received his appointment as lendr- 

 man, he belonged thenceforth only to the class of the haulld, 

 and enjoyed only the rett of the latter. 



The king's drmenn enjoyed half a haulld's rett, or the same 

 as a bondi. 



With the introduction of Christianity we find that the rett 

 of a bishop was equal to that of a jarl. The jarl and bishop 

 had the double rett of a lendr-man, 12 marks each ; the stallari 

 (marshal of the king) had the rett of a lendr-man. The priest, 

 the skutilsvein (page), the goldsmith of the king, and those 

 who steered his trade-ships, had that of a haulld. In all these 

 cases the children only inherited the rett which belonged to 

 their father at their birth. 



Indemnity paid for wounds varied according to the rett of the 

 man who gave the wound. 



For wounds in the face, or on places where hair or clothes 

 did not hide the cicatrice, an additional indemnity was paid 

 called aljotseijrir (indemnity for looking more ugly) ; for 

 cutting and burning, an additional indemnity which was 

 called granbragds-eyrir (gron = lip), which meant that the pain 

 was so great that the lips of the man trembled under the 

 operation. 1 



If the giver of the wound was outlawed on that account, and 

 wanted to be released from the outlawry, he had to buy himself 

 out for fifteen marks, to be paid to the king ; and to the 

 wounded man a sum according to his rett. 



" If a freedman wounds a man he shall pay 12 aurar as fine, 

 and his son double, and a bondi triple ; an odal-born man 

 double the bondi, a lendr-man and a stallari double again, 

 and a jarl double the amount they pay, the king double the 

 jarl. When a man wounds another he shall pay wound- 

 indemnities to the one whom he wounded, one eyrir for the 

 wound, one eyrir where a muscle is cut, one eyrir when edge 

 and leg meet, one eyrir for every bone that falls down if it 

 makes a sound when thrown into the scales, one eyrir for every 

 singeing, one eyrir for each cut in the clothes, one eyrir for 



1 The laws on wounds are so minute 

 and numerous that it is not possible to 



give them in full. Cf. also Gulath, 179- 

 '215; Krostath., iv. 42-53. 



