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| List of Illustrations | |
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| List of Maps | |
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| Acknowledgements | |
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| Preface | |
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| Note on Names, Spelling and Pronunciation | |
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| Introduction | |
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| An Immigrant Society | |
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| Language and the Term 'Viking' | |
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| Leadership | |
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| Mord the Fiddle: A Leader and the Law | |
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| The Sagas: An Ethnography of Medieval Iceland | |
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| Resources and Subsistence: Life on a Northern Island | |
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| Turf Housing | |
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| Curdled Milk and Calamities: An Inward-looking Farming Society | |
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| Provisions, Subsistence Strategies, and Population | |
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| Bad Year Economics: Difficulties of Life in the North Atlantic | |
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| A Devolving and Evolving Social Order | |
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| Ranking, Hierarchy and Wealth | |
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| Complex Culture and Simple Economy | |
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| Privatization of Power in the Tenth Century | |
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| A Proto-democratic Community? | |
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| Icelandic Feud: Conflict Management | |
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| The Founding of a New Society and the Historical Sources | |
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| The Effect of Emigrating from Europe | |
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| Land-taking and Establishing Order | |
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| Dating the Settlement: Volcanic Ash Layers | |
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| Closing the Frontier and Establishing Governing Principles | |
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| Written Sources: The Book of Settlements and The Book of the Icelanders | |
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| Limitations on a Chieftain's Ambitions, and Strategies of Feud and Law: Eyrbyggja saga | |
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| Arnkel's Quest for Wealth and Power | |
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| Ulfar's Land Shifts to Arnkel | |
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| Thorolf's Land Shifts to Snorri Go[characters not reproducible]i | |
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| Ulfar Claims Orlyg's Land | |
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| Ulfar's Demise | |
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| The End of Arnkel's Ambitions | |
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| Chieftain--Thingmen Relationships and Advocacy | |
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| The Nature of the Go[characters not reproducible]or[characters not reproducible] | |
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| Advocacy | |
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| Arbitration and Legalistic Feuding | |
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| The Flexibility of the Go[characters not reproducible]i-Thingman Relationship | |
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| The Social Effects of Concubinage | |
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| Distinctions of Rank | |
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| Hreppar: Communal Units | |
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| The Orkneys: A Comparison | |
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| Freedmen | |
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| The Family and Sturlunga Sagas: Medieval Narratives and Modern Nationalism | |
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| The Family Sagas | |
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| The Sturlunga Compilation | |
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| The Sagas as Sources | |
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| Modern Nationalism and the Medieval Sagas | |
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| Conclusions | |
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| The Locations of the Family Sagas | |
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| The Legislative and Judicial System | |
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| Thing: Assemblies | |
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| Options | |
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| Systems of Power: Advocates, Friendship, and Family Networks | |
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| Advocacy | |
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| The Role of Kinship | |
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| A Balancing Act | |
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| Friendship (Vinfengi and Vinatta) | |
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| Women And Choices Of Violence And Compromise | |
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| Vengeance and Feud: Goading in Laxdaela saga | |
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| A Goading Woman from Sturlunga saga | |
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| Restraint Within a Major Chieftain's Household in the Sturlung Age | |
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| Aspects of Blood Feud | |
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| Territory | |
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| Marriage and Confused Loyalties | |
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| Some Conclusions | |
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| Feud and Vendetta in a 'Great Village' Community | |
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| The Language of Feud | |
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| Norms of Restraint | |
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| Bluffing and Violence | |
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| Outlawry | |
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| Friendship, Blood Feud, and Power: The Saga of the People of Weapon's Fjord | |
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| Inheriting a Foreigner's Goods | |
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| Brodd-Helgi's Revenge against Thorleif | |
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| Struggle to Claim a Dowry | |
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| Skirmishes over a Woodland | |
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| Seeking a Thingman's Allegiance | |
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| Brodd-Helgi Breaks Vinfengi | |
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| Geitir Establishes Vinfengi | |
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| The Obvious Sources of Wealth | |
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| Sources Of Income Available Only To Chieftains | |
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| Early Taxes | |
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| Price-setting | |
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| Additional Privileged Sources of Wealth | |
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| The Sheep Tax | |
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| Sources Of Income Available To All Freemen | |
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| Trade | |
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| Slavery and the Rental of Land and Livestock | |
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| Lucrative Sources of Wealth for Chieftains | |
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| The Acquisition Of Property In The Family Sagas | |
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| Disputed Property in the East Fjords: The Saga of the People of Weapon's Fjord | |
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| Disputed Property in the Salmon River Valley: Laxdaela saga | |
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| Inheritance Claims In The Sturlunga Sagas | |
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| The Struggle to Inherit Helgasta[characters not reproducible]ir: The Saga of Gudmund the Worthy | |
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| Inheritance Rights to Heinaberg: The Saga of Hvamm-Sturla | |
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| Resurgence of the Dispute over Heinaberg: The Saga of the Icelanders | |
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| A Peaceful Conversion: The Viking Age Church | |
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| Pagan Observance | |
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| A Viking Age Conversion | |
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| Geography and the Church | |
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| Early Bishops, Priests and Nuns | |
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| The Beginnings of a Formal Church Structure | |
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| Gragas: The 'Grey Goose' Law | |
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| Manuscripts and Legal Origins | |
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| Women and the Law | |
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| Marriage and the Church | |
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| Bishops and Secular Authority: The Later Church | |
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| Bishops | |
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| The Tithe and Church Farmsteads | |
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| Bishops and Priests in the Later Free State | |
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| The Church's Struggle for Power in the Later Free State | |
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| Priests | |
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| Monasteries | |
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| Big Chieftains, Big Farmers and their Sagas at the End of the Free State | |
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| Big Farmers and the Family Sagas | |
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| Advantages Enjoyed by the Storbaendr | |
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| The Saga of the Icelanders in the Sturlunga Compilation | |
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| The Storgo[characters not reproducible]ar, Not Quite Rulers | |
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| Iceland's Jarl | |
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| 1262-4: The Covenant with Norway's King and the End of the Free State | |
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| The Law-speakers | |
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| Bishops During the Free State | |
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| Turf Construction | |
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| A Woman Who Travelled from Vinland to Rome | |
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| Notes | |
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| Bibliography | |
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| Index | |