Laws and Customs of the English

[oloriel]

SO we’ve been translating laws in Anglo-Saxon class, first (excerpts from) the Laws of Æthelbeorht and then (excerpts from) the Laws of Alfred the Oh-So-Great. And I, who enjoyed Law class in grade 10 (we were allowed to eat pizza in class!) but otherwise think all things Jurassic juristic are rather tedious, find myself fascinated by laws.

Researching Anglo-Saxon law you’ll frequently find the opinion (mostly expressed in the late 19th/ early 20th century) that them Anglo-Saxons were on the whole a rather uncivilised mercenary society because most of their laws are lists on how to compensate someone for an injury or misdeed one has done. Because ZOMG how could they ever think it was correct to just pay a certain sum and be done with the issue. (You could even get away with murder if you payed the wergild to the victim’s lord and kin. Wergild not being someone who turns into money every full moon, in case you were wondering, but rather the price a person was worth.)
I dunno, personally I find that “You broke my wife’s cousin’s jaw, now you owe him 20 shillings (and twelve more if his ability to speak is seriously impaired)” is a lot more civilised than “You broke my wife’s cousin’s jaw, I keel you dead in the name of family honour”. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind; thirty shillings for an eye won’t bring the eye back, but recompense the disadvantages a semi-blind person might have in a society of warriors. (And thirty shillings were quite a lot of money back then.) Of course if you didn’t pay the victim (or their family) would be after you like nothing good, but at least you had the option of settling the whole thing peacefully at all. Or compared to somewhat later times - what's more civilised, making a thieve swear that he'll repay the 12-fold value of a gold crucifix he stole from a church (or else!), or flaying him alive right away? Thanks, I'll take Anglo-Saxon law. You say mercenary like it's a bad thing.

Of course it’s also fascinating to see where the old Anglo-Saxons placed the most value. In the lists of how much you get to pay for what body part, for example, you see that making someone speech-impaired is not as expensive as taking their thumb off (of course, in a society of warriors and farmers, the thumb is a pretty vital appendage, whereas speaking is optional…). The pinkie is more valuable than either middle or ring finger – you need it as a counterbalance when gripping a sword, whereas the ring finger is only needed for jewellery and the tasks of the middle finger can easily be done by the other fingers. Front teeth are more expensive than molars, and things are also priced according to how long they take to heal. People obviously had a lot of experience in these things.

And of course there are gender issues and the strengthening influence of the church (at some point you get to pay nine-fold for stealing from the King (or else…!), but eleven-fold for stealing from a bishop – which I in Æthelbeorht’s place would’ve found slightly unfair!) and the changing concept of kingship ("random guy who happens to command everybody" to "God's annointed, practically holy") and political issues and all kinds of fun stuff.
And plotbunnies.

Laws of Alfred: Firstly we decree that which is of the utmost importance, namely that everybody must faithfully keep every oath and promise they make…
Me: Same old, same old…
Laws of Alfred: … unless they are forced to do evil or improper deeds, or aid somebody in evil or improper deeds, in order to fulfil an oath; in which case the oath is voided.
Me: … SMART move.
Maglor: Soooo, ever wondered who put the “Alf” in “Alfred”*?
Me: *facepalms* Like I needed another plotbunny.

Laws of Alfred: If somebody forces a serving woman to sleep with him…
Me: Yeah, right, pay a fine to the woman’s lord…
Laws of Alfred: … let him pay five shillings to the woman’s lord…
Me: Knew it. Misogynist Anglo-Saxon bastard.
Laws of Alfred: … and sixty shillings to the woman. Or if he cannot pay, let him be castrated.
Me: Awww, Alfred, you sweetheart.

In Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, Alfred the Great is depicted (mostly by the books’ protagonist, Uhtred, who is a rather hairy uncivilised warrior bastard himself) as a rather annoying, pale, pious, pompous weakling, and a bad harpist, too; but I have to admit that the more I read on Alfred, the more I get to like him.


*Alfred meaning “elf-counsel”. It can be discussed whether that is supposed to mean “counselled by Elves” or “counselling Elves”, though the former is more likely.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/macalla_/]

OOOOOOH! Hast du da einen übersetzten Text für mich??

Unsere MA-Gruppe ist ja auf mittelalterliche Gerichtsfälle spezialisiert. Alfred ist zwar noch ein gutes Stück vor unserer Zeit aber es wären ein paar interessante Infos, die man zwischendurch mal geben könnte.
Oder man könnte sich mal mit einer Frü-Mi-Gruppe zusammentun und eine Frü-Mi-Verhandlung einbauen.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Hm, ich kann dir natürlich meine unvollständigen Übersetzungen zukommen lassen ;) Es gibt aber auch veröffentlichte Übersetzungen (sowohl modernes Englisch als auch deutsch), die dann vermutlich nicht nur einen Ausschnitt behandeln (und sauberer übersetzt sind - wir versuchen ja, die Satzstruktur möglichst wenig zu ändern, so dass das Ergebnis nicht zwingend idiomatisch (oder auch nur lesbar) ist... Ich schau mal bei uns in die Bib, ja?

[http://users.livejournal.com/macalla_/]

Das wäre sehr lieb :)
Vielleicht gibts da ja auch was im Netz - ich werde mal ein bisschen forschen.

[yoodi.livejournal.com]

Looking at the US modern western laws, it would seem that not much has changed as far as paying compensations is concerned.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I remember a text we read in German class in grade 9 or so (Tanja Blixen or someone) where a German woman living in Africa was absolutely SHOCKED that the locals would accept payment to make up for the (accidental) death of a teenager. Because OMG HOW MERCENARY.

Of course things have changed in parts. You wouldn't be able to settle, say, murder by just paying the dead person's family (and, if applicable, their lord and/or the king) a sufficient sum of money these days...!

[yoodi.livejournal.com]

Not murder (I wasn't thinking of that, anyway), but you do get considerable sums if you accidentally burn your thighs while driving with a hot coffee between your knees....

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

See, but that wouldn't get you anything in Anglo-Saxon England - except maybe for a lot of mockery because you were stupid enough to try drinking coffee mulled wine while driving a cart and spilled hot liquid all over yourself. *g*

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

You can, in fact, settle murder by paying a sufficient sum to the victim's family (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7867036&page=1). The trick is finding "sufficient."

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Isn't the line between manslaughter and murder relevant here? Unless things are completely different over there, which is of course entirely possible...

I shall refrain from commenting at length because I don't really know enough about the American legal system in order to judge it (and besides I don't want to offend any Americans >_>)...

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

Oh, so Finrod DID return from Valinor at some point of time!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Personally I like the thought that Maglor was tired of moping by the seashore at some point, and then went and meddled with mortal affairs. Same for Daeron (Pied Piper, anyone? *ducks*) ;)

[gaharr.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that these laws sound quite reasonable to me.

Nice twist with the castration IMHO.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was surprised to find that Alfred came up with something so... drastic.

Amusingly enough, pretty much the most expensive crime you can commit in Alfred's law code is Taking A Nun Out Of A Nunnery Without The King's Or Bishop's Permission. (Whether or not the nun wanted to get outta there is irrelevant.)

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

... someone who turns into money on the full moon? Brilliant! Now, that gives me plot bunnies!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Heh... I'd like to see the result :D

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

I doubt it will actually get written, as I have many things on my plate at the moment. But the idea is essentially this... in money form, the individual coins / bills wouldn't be sessile, would they? So, what happens if someone spends one, before the pile of money turns back into a person?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

...
...
oh, wow.

Perhaps one person would just turn into one bill or coin (with their image minted on?) in the first place, though? Admittedly that's just boring. *g*

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

There's also the question of how the curse spreads. Is it someone who has accepted one of those bills in return for a dubious service? Is it someone too fond of money? Is just having green hair enough? (Because, you know, red hair was once considered a sign of a warewolf or vampire).

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Hm... in the current economic crisis, that certainly is an interesting question! *cackles*
And just how many human abilities would the money retain? Would it be sentient? Would the person, after the full moon, remember anything about having been money?
(I know. But then a few years ago I read that red hair is actually a sign of Neanderthal genes, so I suppose we aren't that different from the ancients...!)

[barbardin.livejournal.com]

Haha, like.. next time I wake up with a headache: "I have no idea what happened last night, but I feel so SPENT."

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

GOLD.

[independence1776]

That oath law has also given me a Maglor-related plotbunny, though it's a *lot* different than yours. Do you know what the penalty for breaking it is?

And those laws in general are fascinating! I love seeing the differences in cultures.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

That particular one? "If someone breaks an oath that it was right for him to take, he shall with humiliation give his weapons and his property to his friends for safekeeping, and be imprisoned on the King's grounds for forty days; he shall endure whatever the bishop prescribes for him, and his kin shall feed him if he has no food himself."

So I suppose it depends mostly on the bishop. And on the presence of friends and kin. Although a friend-less, kin-less, lord-less man would be doomed in Anglo-Saxon society anyway (a friend-less, kin-less, lord-less man would actually rise in social status by becoming a slave, because that way at least he'd no longer be lord-less).

[independence1776]

*rubs hands and grins evilly* Interesting… What happens if he takes an oath he shouldn't and follows through? Death? Exile?

So in other words, a wandering Maglor is in serious trouble in that society? Looks like I have a lot of (fun) research to do.

And I love your icon! Is it free to take?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

It doesn't say. I suppose the punishment would be determined according to just what he did wrong in following that oath. (And of course the crimes would have to be committed in that time and day - King Alfred isn't going to judge him for a massacre some thousand years in the past, he'd have to kill some Anglo-Saxons in order to get into trouble - and even then someone would have to accuse him!)

You may be interested in this poem on pretty much that topic (http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=text&id=Wdr), if you don't know it already. (It is awesome. You know you want to read it. It's where the "Where now the horse and the rider?" sequence comes from, too.)
He might be, but of course he has the bonus of being a scop, a bard, and as such might find it easier than other men to find himself a place at some fire. He might also have styled himself a lord in his own right, or joined a monastery, or gone among the Celts of Wales or Cornwall or Scotland - so on the whole his chances aren't too bad. Depending on a kind writer, of course. ;)

It absolutely is - just credit september_icons, who made it.

[independence1776]

*grins* That's exactly what I needed to hear!

The Wanderer! That's my favorite Old English poem. :D And you answered a question that I would have had no idea where to go and ask: the accuracy of the translation on that site, since I don't own the poem and don't trust Internet translations.

He's going to have an easier time of it here, because he goes through a lot of other crap in different time periods. *whistles innocently*

*looks at own icon* Methinks I need to check out the rest of her stuff!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Well, there are a few concepts (wyrd, for example, or eorle) that their translation doesn't quite cover (wyrd is a lot more important than "events" implies, and not every man would be an eorl), but on the whole it looks pretty accurate to me (mind you, I'm not a specialist, just a student myself). It's not a beautiful translation, but that's mostly because it tries not to deviate (much) from the structure of the original and takes very little licence to prettify things that look unwieldy in modern English. ;)

Heh! Yes, well, he's a Fëanorian. Going through crap is what they do best. *ducks*

[independence1776]

Doesn't matter that you're a student-- you still know a lot more than I do!

*snickers*

[slightly-mad.livejournal.com]

For all I do actually approve of Alfred in a lot of ways - he had a lot of good ideas intellectually and militarily etc... - the annoying, pale, pious and pompous interpretation is not without base. In his biography Asser devoted a lot of time to talking about how Alfred considered that his illnesses (which may or may not have been haemorrhoids) purged his lusts even towards his wife and how long he spent praying madly about said illnesses and praying in general. So much so that a lot of particularly english historians find it so at odds with the traditional image of a warrior king that they dismiss it as a fictional later addition. Not that this was the topic of several lectures and seminars towards the end of my course this year or anything...

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. Uhtred has some, um, unflattering opinions of Brother Asser as well. *coughs* (Asser is a most unfortunate name anyway. Ok, I know, he's Celtic, the name doesn't mean the same in Cornish (or whatever) as it does in Anglo-Saxon, but... still.)