light upon the tricks of ancient trade-practices which sound strangely modern. "If one sells sand or shavings for meal or butter, that is fraud," says the quaint old law. And for such dishonesty one might be required to pay a fine of three marks,65 which was a heavy punishment, in view of the purchasing power of the amount. 64 64 Ibid., 24. 65 Ibid. CHAPTER XIV MARKETS AND TOWNS Whenever you are in a market town, or wherever you are, be polite and agreeable; then you will secure the friendship of all good men. If you are unacquainted with the traffic of the town, observe carefully how those who are reputed the best and most prominent merchants conduct their business. King's Mirror. Markets and Fairs THOUGH buying and selling took place whenever merchants arrived in a community with commodities which were in demand, the bulk of the Scandinavian trade was carried on at special markets or fairs which were held quite regularly in favorable locations. The largest of these special commercial gatherings usually came but once a year,—as a rule in the summer or autumn-and lasted for several weeks. The great markets were generally held along some highway, or at an important cross-road. Frequently, even in the eleventh century, by which time a few towns. had risen in the land, they were often still found in the open country, far from the centers of settlement. The sites chosen were usually in the vicinity of noted temples, or of political assemblies; at the mouths of rivers, or on other harbors; in the neighborhood of good fishing grounds; or on the borders of the richest fur-producing regions.1 Whether held in town or country, the annual commercial assemblies were very similar in character. Here 1 Bugge, "Handel," in Hoops, Reallexikon. Character of the Annual Fairs gathered people from all over Scandinavia, to buy and sell, and make other business arrangements, to take in the sights and amusements furnished as a rule at every large gathering, to meet old friends and make new ones. And here were also found people from many foreign lands, with strange manners and strange garb, on hand for the purpose of purchasing native products or of disposing of wares brought with them and largely unknown to the North. Some of the more important visitors to the annual commercial gatherings perhaps had permanent buildings on the grounds, which they renovated and fitted up for occupancy every year, but as a rule the structures found at the markets and fairs were of a temporary nature, and were merely booths or tents of linen, coarse wool, or skins, subdivided by means of curtains. Within such shelters the people lived while the traffic lasted; and in the front part of them were exhibited in chests and bales and skins and baskets the wares which they had to offer. At a short distance from the aggregation of dwellings belonging to the traffickers was the common pasture land, where the beasts of burden which had carried most of the merchandise to market were permitted to graze after being tethered or hobbled, or placed in the care of herders. All who came to these Northern commercial centers enjoyed the special merchants' peace provided by law, The Market Peace without which little trafficking could take place. For the violation of the law unusually severe punishments were provided. In Denmark, any one wounding or murdering another in the market place must pay the regular fine, or wergeld, and forty marks in addition, for breaking the market peace; in Sweden and Norway any man striking a deathblow upon the market place in the forenoon when trade was most active was required to pay a double wergeld.2 Markets Iceland's foreign commerce was almost entirely indirect, and was carried on largely through the ports of northern Norway; consequently most of the Icelandic merchants who appeared upon the island were Scandinavians. But there was no lack of buying and selling. Much of this took place on a small scale, however, at booths or tents erected upon the shore by merchants of single ships upon arriving in the harbor; or at markets held in connection with the local political assemblies or religious gatherings; but at the meeting of the Althing in the summer time much more extensive trafficking occurred. And there was at least one special market, sufficiently large to correspond to some extent to the great commercial gatherings in the older Scandinavian lands. The place for this market was called Gazar and was situated north of the present Akureyri.3 Norwegian Markets In several parts of Norway were important markets, the oldest known being Skiringssal, situated in the vicinity of a great temple near the present Lärvik. There were several much-frequented markets farther north also, some in the Lapp country, where the traffic was largely in skins and furs, and others along the coasts, where the commodities dealt in were chiefly fish, and the skins and other 2 Lehmann, "Kauffriede und Friedensschild," in Germanistische Abhandlungen, 49. The Bjarkeyjarrettr, or Birka laws of Sweden, were for the protection of the merchant while engaged in his peaceful calling. They seem to have had their origin in special regulations for the defense of some Northern market upon an unknown birch-forested island-whence the name, meaning "birch island." Later these laws were improved in various ways and extended to other market places. Ibid., 53, 61, 62. Bugge, "Handel," in Hoops, Reallexikon. products of sea-mammals. The greatest commercial center of the Far North was in the vicinity of the Lofotens, near Kabelvaag, and was called Vagastefna. During the fishing season this was thronged with merchants from far and near.1 The largest markets of rural Denmark appear to have been situated upon the eastern and western coasts of Jutland, where the chief land highways crossed; but some were on the desirable harbors of the adjoining islands. Danish Swedish Here and there in continental Sweden, generally upon the lakes or rivers or harbors of the coast, large assemblages of merchants gathered and trafficked in the wares which they brought; the most important of these country markets was at Uppsala which was the site of a very famous heathen temple to which people gathered from all over Sweden for worship. But the island of Gotland off the Swedish coast attained to a greater commercial prosperity than any other part of Scandinavia during the Viking Age; and this trade was almost without exception carried on in country markets; for Wisby, the earliest municipal center of the island, scarcely came into any prominence until the twelfth century. This unusual mercantile activity was due to the fact that towards the close of the viking period the trade between East and West was carried largely across Gotland, though routes of lesser importance crossed the islands of Oland and Bornholm, farther to the south. On various parts of Gotland were held large markets or fairs, where the commodities of the different parts of Europe changed hands. The great volume of the trade carried on at these places is indicated 4 Ibid., 424. 5 5 Ibid., 421; Worsaae, Industrial Arts of Denmark, 80. |