1) Manuscript Compilation
What does the transmission of the Landslov tell us about medieval and Early Modern approaches to ordering knowledge?
A premise of this project is that the Landslov and its translations circulated in manuscript form bound into manuscript books with other texts, here called ‘compilations’, and that the choice of texts in many manuscripts can tell us something about the cultural context of the law, and how the law was understood, applied and interpreted.
The other texts besides the law code in the compilation form a context to the law, and are often texts associated with legal and theological matters. The compilations can consist of texts both old and new; for example, a medieval law written in the 13th century, bound together with later texts from the 16th century. The 13th century law can then be thought to have been read with these later texts in mind. By assessing who owned, wrote, used and added to these legal compilations, we can also understand the role of the individual in the tradition and shaping of the law and innovations in its codicological transmission.
2) Translation
How were concepts, terms and narrative structures translated from Old Norwegian to Danish?
By the 16th century, legal officials could no longer read Old Norse comfortably, and thus had Danish translations of law manuscripts made for practical purposes from around 1530. In the 16th century, these translations were manuscripts, but in 1604 an official translation of the Landslov was made into Danish and the law printed for the first time. Legal vocabulary from Old Norwegian and its translation into Danish will be collected and an analysis of translation strategies conducted.
The corpus of existing translations will be examined in the light of scribal and translators’ comments, and whether there is any difference in the volume and approach to translation from the beginning to the end of the 16th century. The several lists of legal vocabulary that exist will be taken into consideration. Whether and how the printed Danish translation of 1604 has influenced the manuscript tradition will be considered. This will allow the development of Norwegian legal vocabulary between the 13th and the 17th centuries to be traced and facilitate the study of what the historical basis is for modern legal terminology in Norway.
3) Amendment
How and why was the Landslov transformed from a medieval law to reflect the needs of an Early Modern society, and how is this reflected in the manuscripts?
The Landslov was in force for over 400 years and rulers of Norway during the lifetime of the law amended and adapted the law as necessary. An ‘amendment’ is a minor change or addition designed to improve legislation. Amendments can thus indicate areas of social, cultural, and political change as the society transformed from medieval to Early Modern, including the Reformation era.
Amendments were inserted into the law and manuscripts in various ways, and understanding how they were introduced in the physical manuscripts reflects how knowledge was organised on the Early Modern page. In manuscripts, amendments are listed along with laws, inserted into the text, inserted in the margins, or listed separately from laws. The mise-en-page of amendments will allow us to reconstruct how law manuscripts were physically used; were several books used together? Could users easily find what they were looking for? Are some amendments emphasised more than others in the books?
4) Adaptation
What processes of adaptation formed the Icelandic Jónsbók as the result of the combination of Norwegian and earlier Icelandic law?
By ‘adaptation’ is meant the remoulding of the Norwegian law for use in Iceland, which became a Norwegian colony in 1262-64. Although Iceland already had a rich legal tradition dating back to the creation of its parliament in 930, Magnus the Law-Mender modified Norwegian laws to make them suitable for Iceland. In 1271, he sent the unpopular law Jarnsíða to Iceland, but, after introducing the Landslov in Norway in 1274, revised the Landslov into the Icelandic version, known as Jónsbók. The final result was a combination of Norwegian and earlier Icelandic law. It was adopted in Iceland in 1281, and parts of Jónsbók are still current. Jónsbók is thus relevant to an exploration of the transformation of the medieval Norwegian law.
