The Oldest Known Legal Text In Scandinavia Proves That Vikings Were Required To Pay Fines
The Forsa Ring is an iron ring with ancient inscriptions that was discovered in Hälsingland, Sweden, and it is the oldest known legal text in Scandinavia.
The inscriptions on the Forsa Ring, also known as Forsaringen in Swedish, detail some of the significant wealth that circulated within the Viking economy.
A new interpretation of the inscription has shed new light on how Vikings used money and dealt with debts.
The iron ring dates back to the 9th or 10th century C.E. and is believed to have been the door handle of a church.
Such rings were commonly found in Viking and Anglo-Saxon communities. The inscription on the ring consists of nearly 250 runes, which were letters in the alphabet used by the Vikings and other Germanic peoples. The inscription describes the manner in which Vikings took care of financial debts.
“The Forsaringen inscription uksa…auk aura tua was previously interpreted to mean that fines had to be paid with both an ox and two ore of silver,” said Rodney Edvinsson, a co-author of the study and an economic historian at Stockholm University.
“This would imply that the guilty party had to pay with two different types of goods, which would have been both impractical and time-consuming.”
The new translation of the Forsa Ring in modern English is: “One ox and [also/or] two ore of silver to the staff for the restoration of a sanctuary in a valid state for the first time; two oxen and [also/or] four ore of silver for the second time; but for the third time four oxen and eight ore of silver.”
When the translation of the word “auk” is examined more closely, the meaning changes so that fines could be paid with one ox or with two ore of silver.
Nejron Photo – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
An ore equaled about 25 grams of silver. According to Edvinsson, the system was more flexible than previously thought since both oxen and silver could be used to settle debts.
“If a person had easier access to oxen than to silver, they could pay their fines with an ox. Conversely, if someone had silver but no oxen, they could pay with two ore of silver,” Edvinsson said.
The system made transactions less complicated and made it easier for people to pay off their debts.
The new interpretation of the ring is also a better fit with how the system worked later under regional laws.
In addition, equating an ox with two ore of silver indicates a high level of trade and exchange with different economies.
Two ore of silver came out to 50 grams of silver, which corresponds to roughly 100,000 Swedish kronor or $9,610 today.
Arabic dirhams were a currency that was also commonly used among the Vikings. One ore was likely about the same as nine Arabic dirhams.
The study was published in the Scandinavian Economic History Review.
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