omissions. Broadly speaking, the continental population may be said to have come under the following headings, some of these in turn being marked by divisions of minor importance: (1) slaves of all sorts; (2) freedmen, composed of ex-slaves and a number of generations of their descendants; (3) bóendr, the great landed middle class, ranging from the petty freeholder to the höldr, or proud possessor of ancestral soil; (4) nobles, made up in the early times of hersir, or patriarchal chieftains, but replaced, after the political unification of the lands, by lendirmenn, who were the kings' liegemen; (5) “highborn men," including jarls, who were also the kings' liegemen and superintendents, and the kings themselves and their families.

In Iceland, the first two classes existed with practically the same composition. But among the bóendr there was very little of sub-stratification, since here less importance was attached to the possession of allodial soil; while in the Orkneys and Shetlands this seems to have been emphasized as much as in Norway.2 Iceland also lacked the noble and "high-born" classes-in the continental sense-since it was a republic during the period considered. The only men in the country who corresponded in any degree to the continental nobles were the district chieftains, or priests, who rather belonged to the upper ranks of the bóendr.

Slavery, or thralldom, was very common throughout the North during the period in question, and it is probSlavery

able that the system was at this time thou

sands of years old. But it does not seem likely that the slaves ever formed a very large fraction of the population. They were held by only the well-to

2 Johnston, A. W., "Orkney and Shetland Historical Notes," in Saga Book, vol. VIII, 211–264.

do, or rich, and perhaps not more than twenty or thirty were found, as a rule, even on the largest Scandinavian farms. The ranks of slavery were recruited in several ways: many were born into native thralldom; great numbers were purchased from foreign slave merchants; still others were introduced to compulsory servitude through capture in foreign wars or viking raids, Celts, especially those from Ireland, being the most common bondmen of this class from the west, and Finns and Slavs, from the east; and even free Scandinavians themselves were occasionally enslaved as punishment for debt or for more serious offenses and crimes; or they sold their children for the purpose of wiping out debt; sometimes also a man who found it impossible to support and protect himself voluntarily surrendered his freedom. In Sweden such a voluntary bondman was known as a "gift thrall." 3

The thralls found in Scandinavia at the opening of the Viking Age were perhaps largely descendants of the part of the population subjugated by the blonde Norse. Most important among these were the short, brunette people already mentioned as having preceded the Teutons into the land. These probably formed the lowest class of bondmen. The subjugated native slaves were later augmented from the northern Finns or Lapps; and there seems good reason to believe that when the Swedes conquered their neighbors, the Goths, they in some cases made slaves of them. But it is not likely that at any time the thralls of Scandinavian blood were numerous, for slavery was not a common punishment for crime, and debt bondage was only temporary, unless the amount owed was equivalent to the value of a slave; moreover, 3 Eriksen, A. E., "Om Traeldom hos Skandinaverne," in Nordisk Universitets-Tidskrift for 1861, no. III, pp. 10-12; no. IV, pp. 84-95.

♦ Ibid., no. IV, p. 84; Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 227.

a wife could not be committed to slavery for debt without the consent of the family to which she belonged. With the increased activities beyond the seas which characterized the last period of heathendom, however, slavery became more important in the North, because of the more common use of foreign thralls. The bondmen of foreign blood were, not infrequently, people of high birth who held positions of honor in their own lands. In some cases, they were carried off in warring raids merely for the purpose of demanding a heavy ransom; if this was not paid, they became the slaves of their conquerors. The daughters and wives of foreign chieftains or kings, particularly if they were beautiful, were occasionally also taken, to become the slave-mistresses of their captors, or to be sold to others.5

of Slaves

Bondmen in ancient Scandinavia appear to have been treated very much as were the Negro slaves in the United States. The high-spirited Northern people Treatment so loved freedom as to have, as a rule, a lively contempt for those who were not in enjoyment of it, even though these latter were in servitude because of no fault of their own. Before the law, slaves were not persons, but property, like livestock; and when they were hopelessly sick or too old to work, they might be turned out to die, like the other domestic animals. In Norway, even after Christianity had been introduced, the thrall who had become too feeble to work might be taken to the church-yard and placed in a grave prepared for him, where he was left to perish. Slaves were perhaps also frequently required to follow their masters and mistresses to their graves, through being put to death on the funeral pyre. The life of the slave was 5 Eriksen, "Om Traeldom," in Nordisk Univs.-Tidskr., for 1861, no. III, pp. 4, 10.

• Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 238–239. See below, pp. 419–420.

always held lightly, and his master might maim or kill him with impunity-unless the act took place at certain holy periods but the law required that the killing be publicly announced upon the day on which it took place." If a man killed the bondman of another, he must pay damages, as for other property, and if such payment were made within thirty days, the owner might not seek revenge, unless the slave were put to death to secure revenge on the master. Except in rare cases, no slave might be a witness or take an oath; hence, like the African slave of antebellum days in the United States, he had no rights which the master was bound to respect. A person who was in temporary thralldom for debt was treated like other bondmen, except that he might not be sold or driven to work with blows, unless he were stubborn.s

But if the slave was not permitted to enjoy the rights of society, he also escaped most of its duties. His master was entirely responsible for his actions. All bondmen were exempt from military service, except in the case of a great crisis, in which case free and slave alike must go. If a master violated this law and took his slave to foreign parts for military service, he forfeited his ownership and the man became free, or was confiscated by the king. It was also illegal to sell a slave out of the country, except for crime; but there was nothing to prevent a master from taking his slave abroad as a personal servant or as a cook.9

The working hours of the slave were long and hard, and his food, clothing, and housing provisions were of the simplest. But glimpses are given in the sagas of 7 Grágás, III, 189–190.

8 Eriksen, "Om Traeldom," in Nordisk Univs.-Tidskr. for 1861, no. III, 10; IV, 86.

9 Ibid., no. III, 32-33; no. IV, 87-89, 96.

cheering exceptions to this. The household slaves, as in the case in Negro slavery in the United States, were often well treated and became attached to the family. This was especially true of the men and women who assumed virtually the whole care and training of the children in the homes of the wealthy. These, like the "mammies" in the South, were frequently regarded by the children as second parents. Occasionally, also, thralls were permitted to accumulate property and were given positions of trust. One thrall is mentioned who became adviser of the king, and later rebelled against him.10

No prohibition existed against the sale, within the country, of one who was a life-slave; but the sale must take place in a legal manner, and in the presence of witnesses. The price of slaves varied, but it generally ranged from one to three marks of silver (eight to twenty-four ounces). The customary price for a woman was one mark, but three times this amount was not unheard of. In some places, the purchaser was permitted by law to take the slave on trial, with the right of returning him within a certain time, if not satisfied. In the Swedish island of Gotland the time limit for trial was six days. On the seventh day the thrall must be returned or the money for him paid down.11 In some parts of the North there were fugitive slave laws, which encouraged the apprehension of runaways by offering rewards. In Norway if the slave was captured in the district in which he belonged, the reward was one eyrir (one ounce of silver); but if he had fled farther, it was two. When a bondman was hired out by his owner, the temporary master was responsible if the slave lost his life through any evident

10 Ibid., no. III, 45; Du Chaillu, Paul B., The Viking Age, I, 512–513. 11 Eriksen, "Om Traeldom," in Nordisk Univs.-Tidskr. for 1861, no. III, 60; no. IV, 92; Guta-Lagh, 67-68.