2 years, 2 months ago
Explain in detail, the Viking Gonernment and how there laws were enforced.
Was there a king? Who were the "Lawbringers" of viking socity. Did commoners or peasents of any viking socity have any say in how to govern themselves?
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$1 Answer
The earliest Norse and pre-Norse (Vendel) modes of organization that we know about were tribal communites headed by a "Konunger" (literally, "king", but often glossed in anthropological texts as "chieftain"). This was so because the early Vikings were essentially loose confederations of different tribes and it would be incorrect to label them as "kings."They had these before the Viking Age officially started in AD 796 (dated from the famous raid on Lindisfarne).
Each community also had an assembly of landowners which they called the "Thing", which today is more like our city council. They were made up of the elders of the tribe. Anyone in the community could bring complaints against anyone else to the Thing for judgement, resolution or mediation. This structure was also in place *before* the start of the Viking Age. Because of this happened before the Norse tribes had adopted writing (and before anyone else really cared to write much about them) we have no way of knowing *exactly* when these structures (both kingship and council) first started.
Later on, kings became the official title as the Vikings slowly emerged from wondering nomads to organized fighting machines. The kings often rode to battle alongside their troops and often died in war, in that case tribes often voted for their net thing, which was rare back in the Dark Ages in Europe.
Here are a few notable dates for the Viking Governement.
872 - Harald Fairhair become the first king of a (mostly) united Norway. The union doesn't last however, and the Norse lads disolve back into petty kingdoms
930 - Creation of the Icelandic "Althing" (National Assembly) - Iceland never had a king. This is the oldest national assembly in the world.
965 - Unification of the Danes by King Harald Bluetooth.
979 - Establishment of the Manx "Tynwald" ("Althing" in the Manx-Norse dialect). This is the oldest *continually meeting* parliment in the world.
1016-1019 - True unification of Norway by King Olaf Haraldsson.
Each community also had an assembly of landowners which they called the "Thing", which today is more like our city council. They were made up of the elders of the tribe. Anyone in the community could bring complaints against anyone else to the Thing for judgement, resolution or mediation. This structure was also in place *before* the start of the Viking Age. Because of this happened before the Norse tribes had adopted writing (and before anyone else really cared to write much about them) we have no way of knowing *exactly* when these structures (both kingship and council) first started.
Later on, kings became the official title as the Vikings slowly emerged from wondering nomads to organized fighting machines. The kings often rode to battle alongside their troops and often died in war, in that case tribes often voted for their net thing, which was rare back in the Dark Ages in Europe.
Here are a few notable dates for the Viking Governement.
872 - Harald Fairhair become the first king of a (mostly) united Norway. The union doesn't last however, and the Norse lads disolve back into petty kingdoms
930 - Creation of the Icelandic "Althing" (National Assembly) - Iceland never had a king. This is the oldest national assembly in the world.
965 - Unification of the Danes by King Harald Bluetooth.
979 - Establishment of the Manx "Tynwald" ("Althing" in the Manx-Norse dialect). This is the oldest *continually meeting* parliment in the world.
1016-1019 - True unification of Norway by King Olaf Haraldsson.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$Report Abuse
