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Horse-fights:ThebrutalentertainmentoftheSagaAgeIcelanders
21
Sources
Themainsourcesforhorse-fightsarefoundwithinthesagasincludingfour
lawbooks.Unfortunatelywehaveonly20instancesinthesesourcesregarding
horse-fights.Thereare12sagasand2lættirandalmostallofthemarepart
oftheÍslendingasögurcollection.Thereasonforitcouldbethatinthesaga-
writingperiodhorse-fightingdidnottakeplace.Butweareawareitisnotthe
case1wefindsomereferencestohorse-fightsinSturlungasagaaswellasin
accountsfromthe16thcentury.
Thelawbookscanalsoprovideusefuldataconcerninghorse-fights.First
ofallbecausesomeofthemhadbeenwrittenduringthetimesbeforesaga-
writingbegan,andsecondly,becausetheydealwiththelegislationandevents
whichgivemorereliabilitytosuchthingsashorse-fights.InthissectionIwould
liketodealwithlawbooks.TwoofthemarefromNorwayandrepresentearly
laws,andtwoothersarefromIcelandandwerewritteninthe12thand13th
centuries.Lawsalsodemonstratethathorse-fightswerequitecommonforboth
NorwegiansandIcelanders,andtherewasaneedtoregulatesomeissuesthat
whichsometimesstemmedfromthemtakingplace.
Therearenosourcesofhorse-fightingintheGulalinglaw,thefirstwritten
Norwegianlaw.TheoldestlawreferencecomesfromtheNorwegianFrostaþing
law
18
.Thislawencompassed8shiresofTrondheimsfjord(regionTrøndelag).
ThefirstinstancesofthislawarepreservedinSnorri’sMagnússsagagóóain
Heimskringla.There,thelawisdatedtoAD9501980
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.Eventhoughitdoes
notdealwithformalhorse-fights,itcontainsthewordhestavigwhichcanpro-
videuswithwhatwashappeninginthesecases.Aconnectiontohorse-fights
andtheirbasicrulescanalsobedrawn:theownerortheonewhoisputting
his(owner’s)horsetoafightwithanother’shorseisresponsibleforanydam-
agesthishorsecauses
20
.Butthisthesiscannotbesustainedbecauseofalackof
othersources.Thephraseusedtodescribeahorse-fightwasetjasaman,which
couldrelatetoasimplehorse-fighttakingplaceunofficially.
18
T.Knudson:Frostatingslove.In:Kulturhistoriskleksikonfornordiskmiddelalder.
Eds.J.Benediktsson,M.M.Lárusson.Vol.4.Reykjavik1956,pp.6561662.
19
Ibidem,pp.6561662.FormoreinformationaboutFrostaþing,see:L.M.Larson:In-
troduction.In:Idem:TheEarliestNorwegianLaws.BeingtheGulathingLawandtheFrosta-
thingLaw.NewJersey2011,pp.3131.
20
G.Storm,E.Hertzberg,R.Keyser,P.A.Munch:NorgesgamleLoveindtil1387.
Vol.1.Christiania1846,p.228:“Enefhestavigverórhafisicsidlfan[hverrabyrgóan].Enef
lyftrheftdviginauósynialaust.Giallóiöfundarbótleimerhestdeltirlvisemhannermaór
til.Enefmaórtecrheptingafrossimannsfyrirrdólesserd.Gjalldiaura.iij.leimerd.Oc
lessadbyrgódrossiocöllumvercumlesstillessereiganditemrhöndumd.Ocsoerieió
fyrir”.
