KULKK OF INHERITANCE. .V, 



In Christian times the arvel changed its name into that of 

 soul-ale. 



" Wherever men die and the heir wants to have an arvel, 

 whether it is in seven days or on the thirtieth morning or later, 

 it is called erfiol. If they make ale and call it sdlu-ol (soul-ale) 

 they shall invite to it the priest, of whom they buy service, with 

 two other men at least. The priest shall go to arvels or soul- 

 ales if not hindered by necessity. If he will not go he shall 

 lose his tithe " (Ghilath., 23). 



No one who had lawful heirs was allowed to dispose of his 

 property before his death without the assent of these heirs. 



" No man shall divide a property or inheritance before the 

 owner allows it, until men see that he spoils it. As long as a 

 man has his wits and can manage his farm and bargains, and 

 is able to ride on horseback and drink ale, he shall rule his 

 property, and no man is allowed to divide it ; if it is divided it 

 shall not be kept " (Gulath., 126). 1 



When two daughters inherit from their father, and one has 

 a daughter and the other a son, the son can redeem (the land ) 

 from his kinswomen according to law. But if this son has 

 only daughters, while the daughter of his mother's sister has a 

 son, he can redeem the land from them for the same sum as 

 was paid to his mother. Then the land shall remain where it 

 is, for it has come three times under spindle" (Gulath., 275). 



The nearest of kin inherited the property, and the rules 

 regulating the inheritance are these : 



" A son shall take inheritance after his father if it goes as it 

 ought, and an adopted son like one family-born ; and if things 

 go badly (if the son dies) the father inherits from his son if 

 the latter has no heir. 



" The second inheritance is the one which a daughter and 

 son's son take, if he and also his father are lawfully born. 



" If two lawfully born son's sons are inheritance-born, and 

 the one's father is lawfully born and the other's not, then the 

 first shall take the inheritance. 



" Brothers who have the same father inherit from each 

 other. When a brother dies, the sister born of the same father 

 gets the inheritance. 



1 When a man was unable to manage 

 his property and spoiled it, theu it could 



be divided without his leave by 

 heirs. Cf. also Frostathiug, ix. 20. 



the 



