thumb|300px|[[Torgny the Lawspeaker showing the power of his office to the king of Sweden at Gamla Uppsala, 1018. The lawspeaker forced king Olof Skötkonung not only to accept peace with his enemy, king Olaf the Stout of Norway, but also to give his daughter to him in marriage. Modern historians doubt this account. Illustration by C. Krohg.]]

A lawspeaker or lawman (Swedish: lagman, Old Swedish: laghmaþer or laghman, Danish: lovsigemand, Norwegian: lagmann, Icelandic: , Faroese: løgmaður, Finnish: laamanni, ) is a unique Scandinavian legal office. It has its basis in a common Germanic oral tradition, where wise people were asked to recite the law, but it was only in Scandinavia that the function evolved into an office. At first, lawspeakers represented the people, and their duties and authority were connected to the assemblies (things). For most of the last thousand years, however, they were part of the king's administration.

Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) of Iceland was a famous lawspeaker. He wrote about an 11th-century lawspeaker named Torgny, but historians doubt the account.

The historical lagtings and the office of lawspeaker were abolished in 1797, but the title was reinstituted in 1887 together with the introduction of the jury system.

Iceland

In Iceland, the office was introduced in 930, when the Althing was established. He was elected for three years. Besides his function as the president of the thing, his duties were restricted to counselling and to reciting the law. It was the sole government office of the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. The lawspeaker was elected for a term of three years and was supposed to declaim the law at the Althing, a third of it each summer. In fact, Grímr Svertingsson's term was cut short, not because of incompetence or illness, but because his voice was too weak for the job. Apart from his function as a lawsayer and chairman of the court, the lǫgsǫgumaðr had no formal power, but he would often be appointed as an arbitrator in the frequently arising disputes. The office lingered on for a few years in the transitional period after 1262, after which it was replaced with a lǫgmaðr. The traditional date for the founding of the Althing is 930 with Úlfljótr appearing as a founding figure and the original author of the laws. After the union with Norway in 1264, two royal lawspeakers were appointed who had an important influence on the legal processes at the thing. The office was abolished together with the Althing in 1800.

List of Icelandic lawspeakers

Scholars are suspicious of the fact that Úlfljótur's first two successors have been assigned a period in office of exactly 20 summers each, but from Þorkell máni on, the chronology is probably correct; names are given in their modern Icelandic form.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! align="left" | Lögsögumaður!! align="left" |Term in office

|-

| Úlfljótur|| align="right" |c. 930

|-

| Hrafn Hængsson|| align="right" |930–949

|-

| Þórarinn Ragabróðir Óleifsson|| align="right" |950–969

|-

| Þorkell máni Þorsteinsson|| align="right" |970–984

|-

| Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði Þorkelsson|| align="right" |985–1001

|-

| Grímur Svertingsson|| align="right" |1002–1003

|-

| Skafti Þóroddsson|| align="right" |1004–1030

|-

| Steinn Þorgestsson|| align="right" |1031–1033

|-

| Þorkell Tjörvason|| align="right" |1034–1053

|-

| Gellir Bölverksson|| align="right" |1054–1062

|-

| Gunnar hinn spaki Þorgrímsson|| align="right" |1063–1065

|-

| Kolbeinn Flosason|| align="right" |1066–1071

|-

| Gellir Bölverksson|| align="right" |1072–1074

|-

| Gunnar hinn spaki Þorgrímsson|| align="right" |1075

|-

| Sighvatur Surtsson|| align="right" |1076–1083

|-

| Markús Skeggjason|| align="right" |1084–1107

|-

| Úlfhéðinn Gunnarsson|| align="right" |1108–1116

|-

| Bergþór Hrafnsson|| align="right" |1117–1122

|-

| Guðmundur Þorgeirsson|| align="right" |1123–1134

|-

| Hrafn Úlfhéðinsson|| align="right" |1135–1138

|-

| Finnur Hallsson|| align="right" |1139–1145

|-

| Gunnar Úlfhéðinsson|| align="right" |1146–1155

|-

| Snorri Húnbogason|| align="right" |1156–1170

|-

| Styrkár Oddason|| align="right" |1171–1180

|-

| Gissur Hallsson|| align="right" |1181–1202

|-

| Hallur Gissurarson|| align="right" |1203–1209

|-

| Styrmir hinn fróði Kárason|| align="right" |1210–1214

|-

| Snorri Sturluson|| align="right" |1215–1218

|-

| Teitur Þorvaldsson|| align="right" |1219–1221

|-

| Snorri Sturluson|| align="right" |1222–1231

|-

| Styrmir hinn fróði Kárason|| align="right" |1232–1235

|-

| Teitur Þorvaldsson|| align="right" |1236–1247

|-

| Ólafr hvítaskáld Þórðarson|| align="right" |1248–1250

|-

| Sturla Þórðarson|| align="right" |1251

|-

| Ólafr hvítaskáld Þórðarson|| align="right" |1252

|-

| Teitur Einarsson|| align="right" |1253–1258

|-

| Ketill Þorláksson|| align="right" |1259–1262

|-

| Þorleifur hreimur Ketilsson|| align="right" |1263–1265

|-

| Sigurður Þorvaldsson|| align="right" |1266

|-

| Jón Einarsson|| align="right" |1267

|-

| Þorleifur hreimur Ketilsson|| align="right" |1268

|-

| Jón Einarsson|| align="right" |1269–1270

|-

| Þorleifur hreimur Ketilsson|| align="right" |1271

|}

See also

  • Asega (lawspeaker of medieval western Friesland)
  • Brehon
  • Medieval Scandinavian law

Notes

References

  • An article in Nordisk familjebok
  • Nationalencyklopedin