Berserks and royal saints

Economic and Organized Crime in Early Medieval Scandinavia

Hans Andersson

Scandinavia has a rather short history by European standards, but we started out in grand
style: with the Viking age. This period, roughly between 793 and 1066 was also the time
when states were formed in Scandinavia: the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and
Sweden and the Icelandic free republic. Finland was later conquered and Christianized by
Swedish crusaders.
The roots of economic crime lie in the trade regulations and tax collection, as practiced
in these early medieval states, while organized crime emanates from the monopoly of
violence aspired to by the state and questioned by different kinds of groups, where of some
were engaged in illegal activities. When such groups were engaged in repeated crime
involving violence and threats this may be labeled organized crime.

At the beginning of the Viking age Scandinavia was divided in a number of small realms. Not
much is known about the administration of justice or how life otherwise was lived in these
tribal kingdoms. The history of unification in the three countries also remains hidden in
mythology. It is best known in Norway, where the small kingdoms were conquered by King
Harold fairhair in about the year 900. Later on the country was again split up among his heirs,
and finally unified and Christianized under saint Olav.
Two other trends in the development of this period were urbanization and the change of
religion. Towns were founded in all the three realms and seem to be symbiotic with the
growing power of the kings. The kings furthermore promoted Christianity, as it was providing
a systematic ideological justification for the new form of central power. The Norwegian king
Saint Olav is said to have spread the religion with fire and sword, but we lack more exact
information of this process in Denmark and Sweden. In these countries also there were
attempts to get kings sanctified, but they did not become as widely worshipped as Olav. In
Iceland the religion was changed, not by force, but as a result of a primitive parliamentary
decision.

Many chieftains found it hard to live as, what they considered to be, slaves of the king, and
emigrated from Norway to the newly discovered Iceland. Here a new kind of state was
founded, sharing the same culture with the rest of the Viking world, but also developing some
specific traits. One of these was the art of history writing, the sagas. These sagas are our best
source for knowledge of the old Scandinavian history and culture. Their historical accuracy
has been widely overestimated in earlier research, but today they are used in a more
ethnographical perspective.
I will here give some examples of economic and organized crime, mainly in Norway
and Iceland, as described in the sagas. The ones I have used are: Heimskringla, Njala and Egil
Skallagrimssons saga, and to some extent Laxdala and Grette Asmundssons saga. I use the
Swedish translations and may here and there cause some confusion by mixing names, terms
and spelling in Icelandic with Swedish and English.

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Vikings and pirates
The Vikings worked with violence and threats – but they did not actually commit crimes
during their raids. There was a state of continuous warfare, as the kingdoms had no diplomatic
relations that sanctioned or accepted each others existence. Before the Scandinavian states
were converted to Christianity they only recognized each other on equal terms – the rest of the
world was open hunting ground.

The word Viking was used as an equivalent of pirate, in the sagas. There were no Viking
peoples, and we cannot refer to ordinary men in Scandinavia at the time as Vikings, but I see
no problem in referring to the time as such as then Viking age. Here will be examined some
acts, criminal or not, that are regarded as economic or organized crime, and how they relate to
the concept of honour during this period of state formation in Scandinavia.
Piracy is a classical form of organized crime. The standard perception of Scandinavian
people at the time as occupied in piracy and raids in their neighbor countries is somewhat
exaggerated. In the Viking age the division of labor was undeveloped – a man could be at the
same time farmer, sailor, warrior, priest and lawyer. Men were not full time Vikings, though it
was customary for especially young men to spend some years “in Viking”. They went on a
sort of grand tour, visiting courts and relatives and performing heroic deeds. It was also
honorable to plunder, as long as you did not raid your own country or where you in some way
were in service of the king, this was not a criminal act.
There are however many examples of chieftains that got in conflict with the king and
raided his country, mainly attacking local administrators or farmsteads that had been
confiscated. These acts were illegal of course, and as there was no separate political sphere
they may be labeled in the category of organized crime.

It paid off to be a Viking, but how much and at what risk may be difficult to estimate. In 830
the Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok raided France, and was offered a ransom if he did not sack
the city of Paris. The Viking fleet is said to have consisted of 120 ships. If this number is true
or not, we do not know – but if it is, and each ship held an average of 50 men, that would call
for a modest army, numbering 6 000 warriors. The ransom paid was 7 000 pounds of silver,
so, with a reasonable cut for the king and chieftains, a single Viking could still be allowed
half a kilo of silver. Today a kilo of silver is rated at 240 euro. 1 So you ought to be pretty
desperate to risk your life on a trip like that, bringing in no more than about 200 $, in 2008
value.
The relative value of silver may have been greater at that time. There were also non-
economic gains to be made, to get a higher social status by your reputation, to serve as a
follower of some local chief, or just a lust for adventure and to see more of the world than the
valley where you happened to be born.

Egil Skallagrimsson was a great Viking, warrior and poet, raiding both in east and west and as
a result of his conflict with Eric Blood Axe, also in Norway. In the Baltic he once was a
victim of an outrageous interference in his legitimate profession. As he often attacked ahead
of his retainers or went scouting on his own, some local villagers caught him and put him in a
primitive dungeon. Here several other Scandinavians were already abiding their fate – either
to be killed or sold as slaves. Egil helped the others to escape and afterwards took merciless
1
http://www.werbeka.com/service/priser.htm (17/9 -08)

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revenge on the inhabitants of the village that have shown the bad taste of defending
themselves and treat their oppressors in the same way that was intended for them.

Tax collection – and evasion

One of the most important ambitions of the new monarchs was to collect taxes. In the saga of
Egil Skallagrimsson we first learn about the conflict between Egils ancestors and Harold
Fairhair.
The old chieftain Kvällulv warned his son Torolv not to get into the service of the king,
but he went to court and became highly favored.2 He assumed the lucrative office of
collecting Finn-taxes. Old Norse refers to Sami, or Laponian people as Finns, and the tax
collection very much resembles a trekking raid through the north countries. Torolv was very
good at this job and effectively made friends and allies, engaging in local conflicts and
visiting markets where he could take what he wanted from the Sami. He thus brought great
treasures back to the king.
Torolv had inherited the office from his brother-in-arms Bard, who fell in a great battle
where King Harold defeated two of the smaller kings. Bard also gave his friend his widowed
wife Sigrid and much land. Here envy arises however, as Bard had two uncles, Harek and
Hrörek who have been disinherited on the doubtful ground that they were illegitimate sons of
Bards grandfather. These two brothers first went to Torolv and claimed their part of the
inheritance. As he refused they approach King Harold and accused Torolv of having kept the
greater part of the Finn taxes for himself. Finally they convinced him and they get the office
themselves. When they return with the taxes, the king finds the result disappointing, it is far
less then what Torolv collected. Once more they succeeded in sweet talking Harold, blaming
Torolv for their failure. They said that Torolv illegally had collected the Finn tax before them
and therefore there was nothing left for them to take. He had then sent his treasure on a ship to
England and traded it for wares of even greater value. Harold sent two men, the brothers
Sigtrygg and Hallvard to keep a lookout for Torolv’s ship and seize it when it returned from
England, which they did.
Kvällulv advised Torolv to leave the country and not get in further conflict with the
mighty Harold, but instead seek the service of some other king, in Sweden, Denmark or
England. Torolv however manned his long ship next spring and sailed south. They met a ship
belonging to the king and took it by force. Then they raided the farm where Sigtrygg and
Hallvard lived, killing more than twenty men. After some more Viking raids Torolv returns to
his fathers house, telling of his exploits and then to his home, where he stayed for the winter.
Sigtrygg and Hallvard requested the king to give them permission to avenge themselves
on Torolv. When spring came they were allowed to sail north to seek him out. But King
Harold was a shrewd tactician – while everybody knew about Sigtrygg and Hallvard’s
planned raid he himself marched on foot with three hundred men and then borrowed ships
from farmers, so he unexpectedly arrived at Torolvs farm before the brothers. No guards were
kept, so the house could be surrounded before the battle cry was heard and the standard rose.
After some discussion women, children and slaves were allowed to go out, before the house
was set on fire. Torolv and his men managed to break out through the wall at the back of the
house and a bitter fight ensues. Attacking the kings line Torolv kills the standard bearer,
standing in front of Harold, with this sword, saying: “this time I went three feet too short”.

2
His original name was Ulv, meaning wolf – but as he changed mood and became very angry at evenings,
sometimes even getting into the shape of a wolf, he received this nickname, kväll meaning evening.

3
These are his last words; of course, as he is hit by several weapons and finally killed by the
king himself.
Sailing back Harold met many farmers on their way to aid Torolv. They had heard about
Sigtrygg and Hallvard coming to attack him, but now they turned back home. Sigtrygg and
Hallvard also returned, again coming later than Harold and everybody thought their journey
had been a disgrace. One relative of Torolv, in service of the king was put in charge of his
farm, now owned by Harold – and was also ordered to marry his widow. Sigrid had no choice,
but to obey the king’s command. Here the difference between men and women in old
Scandinavia is illustrated – while men had many options and could combine different roles
and occupations, women had mainly the traditional role of wife and mother. At least on
Iceland they had no legal capacity – I will briefly get back to the gender issue further on…

Another relative of Torlov’s was Kettil Häing, a great chieftain, who had been among the
farmers coming to late to prevent Harold’s attack. Instead of going straight home he sailed to
the farm of Harek and Hrörek, killed them and took everything of value. He then assembled
all his family and retainers, as well as livestock, embarked on two ships and set out for
Iceland. He claimed land and built a farmstead, and from him many great men are
descendants, according to the saga.
Kvällulv mourned his son but he had one more: Grim, who at age of 25 already was
bald, and thus was called Skallagrim. He said it would be better to seek revenge than to cry,
but other relatives persuaded him to go to King Harold and seek justice. The king could either
pay a fine for killing Torolv or in some other way honor them. Skallagrim went to the king
but insulted him and thereafter decided to leave Norway together with his father. On their way
they met Sigtrygg and Hallvard, attacked their ship and killed them both. Old Kvällulv went
berserk when boarding their ship and some men jumped overboard trying to swim away.
Skallagrim leapt into a rowing boat, pursued the fleeing men, killing them all. Only two or
three men, that were considered to be worthless anyway, were spared and sent to tell King
Harold of the fight.
After going berserk or shifting shape men with these abilities often lost all strength, we
are told. And this happened with Kvällulv, who after telling his son to seek new land on
Iceland, passed away. Skallgrim followed his advice.

The main character of the saga is of course Skallagrim’s son Egil. He too managed to get an
assignment as tax collector, for Håkan Adalsteinsfostre, also nicknamed the good, a brother of
Erik Blodyx (Blood axe). The Swedish king Olof Trätälja (the wood cutter) had once been
expelled and taken refuge in the province of Värmland. Harald fairhair was a descendant of
this King Olof, and therefore he and his sons claimed the right to tax this, originally Swedish
province. Communication overland through a country filled with mountains and forests was
quite difficult and the Norwegian kings seldom received their taxes. The earl (sw. jarl)
governing Värmland said that he had sent the proper amount but that the collectors must have
been robbed by outlaws in the border region.
Sending Egil on this mission was sort of a win-win strategy for King Håkan. Either he
would get his money or else the Swedes would kill this troublesome figure. The story of
Egil’s journey is filled with supernatural details and unlikely events. The message of the saga
is of course to show what a great and manly hero Egil was and also that hospitality is a great
virtue – thus to be greedy, especially towards guests is a most shameful quality for a chieftain.

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 Egil displays a number of special martial methods: he may choke people by vomiting;
squeezes an eye out with his index finger; and bites the throat off a berserk who is hard
against weapons. He also practices magic, for example curing people with runes and
provoking the guardian-spirits of the land (sw. landvättar) to drive Eric Blodyx from his
realm.
Magic is a common element in the sagas and no doubts are told about its effectiveness.
To be a ghost is however illegal – and the Viking sense of justice (at home) were very strong.
Once in Eyrbyggja saga Snorre gode summoned a “Door court”, and sued a crew of drowned
fishermen that haunted a farmstead. All were found guilty of being ghosts and sentenced to
stop visiting the farm. They leave with some sour remarks, never to come back.

Collecting taxes was a difficult task – and basically there was a lack of trust between the kings
and their servants. The forms of taxes that the Viking kings practiced probably rested on older
tradition, from the smaller realms – on such was called Vetsla. 3 The king came with his court,
mainly consisting of the hird, his armed followers and stayed for about a week at a local
chieftain’s farm. The tax to be paid by the earl of Värmland, probably was rather a kind of
tribute.
Another ambition of the Viking kings was to regulate trade, and to control who travelled
in or out of their country. These innovations also criminalized acts that previously had been
perfectly legal.

Smuggling and illegal trade

In Heimskringla, Snorre Sturlason’s history of the Norwegian kingdom, written in the mid
13th century there is a case of early trade regulation. For some reason the king saint Olav
prohibited the transport of corn and other food stuff from south to north Norway. Probably he
found the inhabitants of northern Norway a bit to slow in accepting his new faith, and thus
tried to starve them into submission. This policy may have been connected to the old idea that
the kings were responsible for the climate and thereby also the harvest. If they did not keep
the gods in a good mood, the country was punished – and the farmers and chieftains could
decide to sacrifice their ruler.

Two men, Erling Skälgsson and his uncle Aslak Fitjaskalle were striving for dominance in a
county called Lidandesnäs. Both however formally acclaimed king Olav (later saint Olav) as
their sovereign. A nephew of Erlings, Åsbjörn lived in the northern part of the country. He
was young and his father had just died. The father had been renowned for his hospitality and
great feasts. Åsbjörn tried to keep this habit – but as famine struck he suddenly found himself
short of provisions and sailed south to buy corn.
He spent a night close to a royal farmstead, in charge of a lowly born man called Tore
säl (the seal). Tore visits Åsbjörn and asks for his errand – Åsbjörn says he wants to buy corn
and asks if maybe Tore have some to sell. Tore tells him that this is prohibited.
Åsbjörn then continued to Erling, and he too refused to sell, referring to the king’s
orders. But he also says that his slaves have some corn in store. And it’s OK with him if
Åsbjörn buys from them. So he does, and returns back home.

3
In an English translation these are called guest-quarters.
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/heim/007_26.php

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 Tore, however, kept a lookout for Åsbjörn and noticed that his ship was heavily loaded
– so he attacks it and takes the cargo, without resistance from the outnumbered Åsbjörn. He
also takes a brand new sail from Åsbjörn’s ship and leaves an old one in exchange.
The following winter Åsbjörn stayed at home. He did not invite anyone and went
nowhere when invited. Another uncle of his, Tore hund (the dog) commented: “does he think
there is a Seal-tore sitting on every islet?” Åsbjörn had lost his honour and resented his fate.
On the second day of February, 1023 Åsbjörn had his ship prepared and sailed – very
slowly south again. On April 18, he reached the island Karmt, where king Olav celebrated
Eastern at one his farms. Åsbjörn left his ship and men on the opposite side of the island and
walked across to the farm, for some reason carrying a pitchfork. With an extraordinary sense
of timing he entered the hall just as Tore säl was asked how Åsbjörn behaved, when they
cleared his ship. Tore said that he had been quite manly at first, but when they took his brand
new sail, he had started to cry.4
At this Åsbjörn jumps forward, brandishes his sword and cuts the head of Tore.
The head bounced and landed on the table, just in front of the king – who, covered with blood,
on the spot sentenced Åsbjörn to death. He had friends and relatives at the court, though and
they managed to postpone the execution till after the holy days of Eastern. At the same time
they send a messenger to Erling Skälgsson. Erling quickly mobilized 1500 men and sailed to
Karmt. As the king left church on the last day of Eastern, he is met by Erling’s force, lined up
in two rows. Olav finds himself more or less forced to negotiate. In fact, Åsbjörn is pardoned
and even receives the office of the man he has killed – he is put in charge of the farm where
Tore säl had resided.
Coming back home Åsbjörn tells Tore hund of his achievement, and asks if he is not
now free of the shame from the earlier trip. Tore hund says that Åsbjörn’s honour indeed had
not been irretrievably lost by the first journey – but now, that he had made himself a slave of
the king, he has proven himself to be just as great a scoundrel as Tore säl. Åsbjörn therefore
stays at home and doesn’t enter in service of King Olav. The saga writer concludes the
episode with a typical understatement: the friendship between Erling and the king was not
improved by these events.

This may be a story of illegal trading, rather than smuggling – but clearly illustrates the
problems the kings had with implementing a monopoly of violence. There were strong bonds
between relatives and also a sense of honour that could not be overlooked even if wrath of
kings and even death was sure to follow. The Vikings seem to have preferred to act openly
and not hide there doings – which is the prerequisite of smuggling. But there are a few
examples of this to, and as usual things end in a violent way:

A dramatic episode in Njala tells that a man called Traen, uncle of Gunnar of Hlidarende –
whose death had already occurred at the time – accepted a man called Hrapp, as a refugee
aboard his ship as he is about to sail from Norway to Iceland. The man was sought after by
earl Håkan, who then was the ruler of Norway, himself, who thrice came aboard looking for

4
"When we were taking out the cargo he bore it tolerably, but not
well; and when we took the sail from him he wept."
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/heim/007_27.php
It is a mystery why the dates are given with such an extreme accuracy, just to prove that a journey that normally
would take maybe two or three days lasted for ten weeks – and apparently without any consequence for the
story. What is important is that he arrives in Eastern and (most unlikely) just when Tore makes his fatal remark.

6
the fugitive. Traen each time altered the hiding place of the criminal and thus managed to help
him out of the country. The earl instead boarded another Icelandic ship, owned by the sons of
Njal and harassed them. They and especially Helge Njalsson had been in great favor with the
king but now lost his good will.
After coming back to Iceland Helge and his brothers wanted Traen to compensate them
for their loss. He refused (of course) and this was the start of the great conflict of the second
part of the saga – resulting in the death, first of Hrapp, then of Traen. Njal managed to make
peace with his relatives and took Traen’s son Hoskuld in his custody. His sons were, however
years later tricked into killing him.
Once again Njal negotiated for peace and almost succeeded. But when the fine was to be
paid he added a beautiful cloak as a present for Flose, the leader of his opponents. This gift
was however understood as an insult, referring to the Flose’s rumored perversion. Floes threw
the cloak in the face of Njal and kicked the heap of silver that had been collected. Thus a long
chain of events starting with the smuggling finally led to the arson on Njals farm where he as
well as his wife and all of his sons lost their lives.

There are two chieftains that excelled in making peace among the unruly Icelanders: The
peaceful and righteous legal expert Njal, who is one of the main characters of his own saga;
and the more cunning Snorre gode – the central figure of the Eyrbyggja saga. To keep the
inner peace in a country where no one could claim a monopoly of violence was a task that
demanded a lot of diplomacy.
Njal at the end becomes a victim of the violence he tries to stifle. This happens much as
a result of his sons’ actions, but also because of two strategic mistakes of his own. One is
giving the above mentioned cloak to Flose, the other is to advice his sons and retainers to go
inside the house, when their enemies approach. Had they stayed outdoors they could have
given Flose and his followers a fair fight, though greatly out numbered – but going in they
were sure to be burned to death.

Snorre on the other hand manages to stay out of trouble and postpone fights till he was sure of
victory, or let others do the fighting for him. When he was unable to help his relative Gudrun
Osvivrsdotter to revenge the death of her husband Bolle Thorleiksson, he advised her to seek
assistance of her suitor Torgils Hallasson. He was a great chieftain, but she did not wish to
marry him. Snorre said that Gudrun should promise him not to marry any other man on
Iceland, if he helped her. Afterwards she could turn him down and marry Thorleik Eyolvsson
who was at the time in Norway.
This may seem like a dishonorable trick – but the one who was disgraced was Torgils,
because he was fooled, and not Gudrun who performed the trick, nor Snorre who advised it.
Torgils understood who the agent behind Gudrun’s act was, and he did not accept to be
reconciled by gifts. Snorre therefore gave a valuable axe to an enemy of Torgils, who then
killed him at the Allthing, Iceland’s Supreme Court and closest resemblance of political
authority.

Fraud – and the concept of honor

A man called Gunnlaug Ormstunga (snake tongue), son of Illuge svarte, visited England. In
York he was approached by a man in the street wanting to borrow some money. Gunnlaug
lended him the requested sum, and later told the king, Ethelred the unready about the

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encounter. Ethelred said he would reimburse him, as this man Tororm was a well known
robber who killed people if they wanted their loan back. Gunnlaug turned down this offer,
found the man, and asked for his money. Tororm refused to pay and Gunnlaug challenged him
to a holmgang, a kind of duel, originally fought on a small island. The king gave Gunnlaug a
good sword but advised him to show his opponent another one, if he asked to see his sword
before the fight. As a classical berserk, Tororm could make himself hard against weapons. He
pronounced a short magic formula: “I fear not this sword”, as he passed his hand over the
weapon that Gunnlaug showed him. But he did not notice that Gunnlaug changed swords, and
therefore was not on his guard, when his deathblow fell.

Gunnlaug had deserved his nickname for his sharp tongue. He was a good poet and traveled
from court to court to say his praise to kings and earls. In Norway he got into quarrel with the
earl Erik Håkansson. Entering the hall he had his foot in bandage and the earl asked him what
was wrong with it. “He has a blister on his foot”, Gunnlaug said.
The earl further commented – “still you do not limp”. “No reason for that, as long as
both legs are of the same length”, Gunnlaug answered. One man in the hird said: “He
swaggereth hugely, this Icelander! It would not be amiss to try him a little.”
Gunnlaug immediately composed a short verse:

“A court man there is

Full o’ evil, I wis,
A bad man and black,
Belief let him lack.”5

The man wanted to get up, and drew his sword, but the earl told him not to be bothered with
such nonsense. He then proceeded to ask Gunnlaug for his age, and was told that he is 18
years old. Earl Erik smiled and said: “I predict that you won’t live for another eighteen”.
Gunnlaug murmured something and the earl told him to speak up – “I said, it would be better
to wish something good for you, than something bad for me”, Gunnlaug answered – and this
is to me a bit curious. A prediction (which, as things turn out, proves to be correct) is not the
same thing as a wish. What Erik does, according to the saga, may as well be interpreted as
giving an advice, a warning not to get into unnecessary fights, by insulting people.
The earl still smiled as he asked: “what good do you think I ought to wish for myself”?
Gunnlaug drives home his point: “that you will not die in the same way as your father!”6
Now, the forces of Erik’s father had lost a battle with Olav Tryggvasson, in 995, while
he, earl Håkan himself, instead of leading his army, courted a woman in a nearby farmstead.
Fleeing with one single follower, an un-free man called Tormod Kark, Håkan went into
hiding under the floor of a swine sty. There he was killed by his own slave.
To try to escape, and save your life was OK – though it would have been more
honourable to stand and die. The way you died was important, and all tricks were allowed, but

5
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/love/00103.php
Wis – OE for “know”, I have added the o’, to the northvegr version.
6
This English translation differs quite a lot from my Swedish text: “My spell is that thou shalt not live eighteen
winters more.” Gunnlaug said, somewhat under his breath: “Pray not against me, but for thyself rather.” The earl
asked thereat, “What didst thou say, Icelander?” Gunnlaug answers, “What I thought well befitting, that thou
shouldst bid no prayers against me, but pray well for thyself rather.” “What prayers, then?” says the earl. “That
thou mightest not meet thy death after the manner of Earl Hakon, thy father.”

8
only as long as they succeeded. Håkan had not been successful, and to be killed by a slave
was the utmost disgrace. His son Erik got furious, of course, when reminded of this fact. But
Gunnlaug had friends and relatives at the court, and they managed to get him out of the hall.

Grette Asmundsson
In the saga of Grette the strong we are told that this man, the notorious troublemaker Grette
Asmundsson, has lived longer time as an outlaw than anyone else on Iceland.
Grette was cursed and thereby prevented from leaving Iceland and seek refuge at one of
the courts where he, in younger days had been favored by the king. His luck is constantly bad,
and his saga a mixture of strange events and a tragic fate. In his youth he treated animals
badly because he resented the work that his father assigned to him. Later on he seeks quarrel
with people to get in to fights that may increase his fame and reputation.
He was outlawed on Iceland for a deed committed in Norway. He was travelling with a
ship that is wrecked on the Norwegian coast. The crew survived but was sitting on an
unknown shore in the early winter and without any fire. They saw a fire burning on the other
side of fjord and persuaded Grette to swim across with a kettle to fetch some glowing ember.
When he comes ashore, almost naked and with ice hanging from hair and beard the people
sitting round the fire believe that he is a troll and attacks him. He of course defended himself
and killed fourteen men. Several of the victims were either friends of the king or had mighty
relatives on Iceland. They succeed in getting Grette pronounced an outlaw, before he was
back on Iceland, which is a questionable act, not entirely accordance with the law. But the law
was open for manipulation by powerful parties or kin groups.
Grette had no friends that were prepared to help him, and was therefore forced to live by
stealing and robbing people. Sometimes men, mainly other outlaws, were hired to seek his
friendship and then betray him, but this does not succeed. By and by he forms a criminal
organization, consisting of a younger brother and a slave. They settle on a steep island off the
Icelandic coast. At first they live of the sheep and cattle that are grazing there and fight off the
farmers that own the island.
When provisions on the island get scarce they start to raid the nearby countryside. Grette
keeps up the habit of swimming in cold water. Once after swimming ashore he passed out in a
small cabin. Two women find him, a farmer’s daughter who wants to walk away, and her
maid who starts to examine the man. This is Grette the strong she says, see how strong he
looks and great are his muscles, too bad he is not as well equipped below the waist as above…
at this Grette awakes and grabs the girl. Afterwards she had no complaints, according to the
saga writer.7

In the heathen days it was customary and not illegal to challenge anyone for his property or
women. In the sagas berserks terrorize farmers with their demands. Every Icelandic hero
should once in his life, usually when visiting Norway help a farmer to fight these berserks. So
does Egil Skallagrimsson, Grette the strong, Gisle Sursson and Snorre gode. When Norway
was Christianized the law changed and it became illegal to make these kinds of challenges. As
the berserks (who often came from Sweden) usually had gathered a band of followers their
habit became a kind of organized crime.
7
This line is not in the English version. What the girl said is here rendered: "As I wish for salvation, sister, here
is Grettir the son of Asmund come. He really is large about the upper part of his body, and is lying bare. But he
seems to me unusually small below. It is not at all in keeping with the rest of him."
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grettir/029.php

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 There is no mention anywhere in the texts of the common perception that the berserks
where affected by any kind of narcotics, for example from toad stools.8 They do bite their
shields, however and at the same time howls, working themselves into frenzy or a kind of
trance. This did not make them invulnerable, but quite fearful to meet in battle. When Grette
stayed as guest at a farmstead in Norway a berserk rode up followed by his gang. He started to
bite his shield, but Grette leapt forward and kicked the lower end of the shield, disjoining the
jaws of the unlucky berserk. Grette then grabs him with one hand and tears him down from
the horse and at the same time draws his sword with the other hand and cuts off his head –
and the followers run away.

Nowadays the concept economic crime is more in use than the traditional White Collar Crime.
The older term suggests that people from different classes engage in different kinds of crime,
and there is some logic to that. The medieval historian Barbara Hanawalt some years ago
established the term Fur collar crime. Led by a nobleman groups of people roamed the
English countryside, and plundered farms or villages. Much of the Viking affairs, raiding in
their own countries or abroad, as well as the berserks’ black mailing, though these did not, as
far as we know, claim any noble birth may well be fitted in this term.
The young states of Viking age Scandinavia could not easily implement a monopoly of
violence. Every free man had his own weapons, and many of them were as able warriors as
they were supposed to be. Even slaves could have swords of their own, but in the sagas they
always fail when they try to take to arms.
In Sweden the habit and right of a nobleman to visit at any farm and to be fed together
with his retainers was not stopped until the late 13th century. The king Magnus Ladulås (barn
lock), is said to have earned his nickname because he outlawed this “gate crashing” (sw.
våldgästning), he put a lock on the peasant’s barn.9

Epilogue
There existed both economic and organized crime in Scandinavia during the days of the
Vikings. Some practices that were not illegal before the kingdoms were established became
crimes as the power of the state grew. There has to be some kind of a state to implement
taxes, trade regulations and a monopoly of violence – the prerequisites of economic and
organized crime.
The state was largely identical with the power of the king. Therefore we have an
interesting starting point for a comparative analysis in the Icelandic free-state, a unique
political construction, a republic sharing the basic culture with the rest of the Scandinavian
world. Here there was no monopoly of violence, no outer threat and no state regulations of
trade – power was in the hands of a class of chieftains. Without any kind of state apparatus
they managed to keep the inner peace on the island for several centuries, before finally falling
prey to Norwegian ambitions in the 13th century.

The early Christian kings promoted the power of the state, became saints and national
symbols. They put them selves above the law and implemented a monopoly of violence.
When accepting Christendom they could entre the European state system, forsaking the
Viking view of the world where the Scandinavian kingdoms were at a supreme level and in

8
So does Catharina Grünbaum for example, when discussing the term go berserk, Dagens Nyheter 20/9 2008.
9
He did this in a way, but there are also other theories for explaining the nickname.

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the rest of the world, as far as you could sail you were free to lay your hands on anything that
the inhabitants could not defend.
Christianity was in many ways different from the old religion, the gospel of Love may
not have been the most obvious element, but it sure was lacking in the old faith. Odin and
Thor were great warriors but they did not love mankind. They fought like the Vikings for the
good of their families and to preserve their honour. The code of honour, however, lived on for
centuries and did not change much because of the new religion. It is not known that the
heathen men were less trustworthy or honourable than people became after being baptized, as
it is said in one saga and it appears that the most important novelties were that your should not
eat horse flesh, and not put newborn babies out to die.
Different sets of values were struggling in the minds of men – women were to a large
degree left out, but they also act in the sagas, promoting conflicts when they saw that the
honour of the family was at stake. Disputing the rank as Hallgerd and Bergtora, wives of
Gunnar and Njal respectively does, leading to many men’s death; or reminding their sons of
the obligation to take revenge, as the daughter of Egil Skallagrimsson in this last example,
from Laxdala saga:

Thogerd, in company with her sons passed by the homestead of Sälingsdal Tunga. She turned
her horse and asked: “What is the name of this place?”
Halldor answered: “You do not ask because you do not know, mother, that this is
Tunga.” “Who lives here”, she continued. “You know that also” Halldor answered.
She snorted: ”Very well I know that here lives Bolle, who slew your brother, and very
much unlike your noble ancestors you are, who do not take revenge after a brother such as
Kjartan. My father would never behave like that, but I have raised daughters instead of
sons…” She carries on, ending with: “I just wanted to remind you of the state of things”.
Halldor answered: “If we forget it, mother, it surely will not be your fault”.

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