Anonymous, Grágás

Sean Lawing (Bryn Athyn College of the New Church)
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Medieval Iceland’s early laws are found in lawbooks collectively known as 

Grágás

Grágás 

is a vital source for understanding medieval Icelandic society. It provides unique insights not only into the functioning of Iceland’s legal system, but also into the culture, values, attitudes, and beliefs of medieval Icelanders whose lives were shaped by its laws. 

Grágás

 has served as a basis for numerous anthropological, sociological, literary, and historical investigations of medieval Iceland and Scandinavia. Particularly effective are studies which make comparative use of 

Grágás

 and Icelandic sagas, which were composed roughly contemporaneously with chief manuscripts of 

Grágás

, in order to draw conclusions about life in Iceland during the Viking Age and into the…

3335 words

Citation: Lawing, Sean. "Grágás". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 October 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40795, accessed 12 October 2024.]

40795 Grágás 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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