168 THE KING'S MIRROR 



trade {Some prefer being at court to living in the coun- 

 try (though in the king's service thetr labor is as bur- 

 densome, or more so) because, though they are of excel- 

 lent kinship, they have little wealth and cannot engage 

 in trade on account of their poverty .Jlf they take up 

 work in the country, they find many who have more 

 wealth, though they are no higher in kinship, or scarcely 

 so high.^And when quarrels arise, the rich find protec- 



-< tion in their wealth and thrust the poor aside, so that 



C these can get no justice in their law suitsj Consequently 

 Jfeikz^' such men think it better to toil in security at court than 

 *( without protection in the country. (Others may have 



J committed manslaughter or have come into other diffi- 

 " / culties which make it urgent for them to seek security 



L in the king's powerJSome there are, too, who always 

 find pleasure in being in a throng; they also feel more 

 secure there, whatever may happen. When these come 

 back to the country where earlier they seemed so utterly 

 defenseless, they regard themselves as the peers of every 

 one, because of the protection which they enjoy as kings- 

 men .[if one of them is slain in single combat, the king 

 will take forty marks * in thegn money \ for him as for 



hand grasping the hilt. The candidate approached, knelt, touched the sword- 

 hilt, and kissed the royal hand. He then arose and took the oath of fealty. ^ 

 Kneeling once more he placed his folded hands between those of the king and 

 kissed his new lord." Larson, " The Household of the Norwegian Kings in the 

 Thirteenth Century:" American Historical Review, XIII, 461. 

 * The mark as a standard of value was widely used in the middle ages. Origi- 

 nally it was a measure of weight equivalent to eight ounces of gold or silver. 

 Its value varied at different times and in different places. Dr. Gjerset esti- 

 mates the purchasing power of a mark of silver in the fourteenth century as 

 equal to that of $80 at the present time. History of the Norwegian People, II, 

 18-19, note. 



t Thegn money (]>egngildi) was a fine paid to the king by one who had been 

 guilty of manslaughter. 



