Abstract
Abstract Narrations of Law. New paths to a conception of medieval law. The article, starting from a review of two publications on medieval Scandinavian literature, tries to find out the role of law in the sagas of medieval Iceland, dealing with mostly bloody conflicts in a society without a ruler or state. Different from classical legal history, today we have to understand law in this context not as a systematic order of norms, but instead as an oral tradition in a world of mainly violent solutions of conflicts by revenge, partly by mediation or arbitration, seldom through a legal proceeding. Not a norm of law, but a compensation in relation to the honour or social position of the parties is the key for a solution. – The theory of a radical cultural change in history (axial age) turns out to be useful for understanding the changing role of law in medieval societies, including Scandinavia.
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