Hirdskraa
Encyclopedia
The Hirdskraa 'The book of the hird', is a collection of laws regulating many aspects of the royal hird
of late 13th century Norway
. Compiled somewhere in the first part of the 1270s at the order of King Magnus VI (r. 1263-1280), it was recopied widely in the 14th century. The earliest extant texts, the AM 322 fol. and NkS 1642 4to (in the Royal Library, Copenhagen), date to around 1300. AM 322 fol. is thought to have originated at the court of King Magnus' son Håkon V's chancellery in Oslo
. In the mid-14th century, with the Norwegian kingdom falling into a personal union with first Sweden
and then Denmark
, the text was copied less in Scandinavia
but remained popular in Iceland, where copies exist from as late as the 18th century. The text can be set beside a number of comparable sections in the Konungs Skuggsjá
.
(Old Norse hirð, from Old English hired) was more than just a bodyguard and a circle of advisers. Some historians discuss the concept of the corporative hird, where the king functions, at least in theory, as the first among equals at the upper levels of the hird. The hird also formed the professional core of the Norwegian army as maintained by the king.
Hird
The hird, in Norwegian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus of the royal army, but also developed into a more formal royal court household....
of late 13th century Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Compiled somewhere in the first part of the 1270s at the order of King Magnus VI (r. 1263-1280), it was recopied widely in the 14th century. The earliest extant texts, the AM 322 fol. and NkS 1642 4to (in the Royal Library, Copenhagen), date to around 1300. AM 322 fol. is thought to have originated at the court of King Magnus' son Håkon V's chancellery in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. In the mid-14th century, with the Norwegian kingdom falling into a personal union with first Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and then Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, the text was copied less in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
but remained popular in Iceland, where copies exist from as late as the 18th century. The text can be set beside a number of comparable sections in the Konungs Skuggsjá
Konungs skuggsjá
Konungs skuggsjá is a Norwegian educational text from around 1250, an example of speculum literature that deals with politics and morality...
.
The Hird
The king’s hirdHird
The hird, in Norwegian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus of the royal army, but also developed into a more formal royal court household....
(Old Norse hirð, from Old English hired) was more than just a bodyguard and a circle of advisers. Some historians discuss the concept of the corporative hird, where the king functions, at least in theory, as the first among equals at the upper levels of the hird. The hird also formed the professional core of the Norwegian army as maintained by the king.
Contents
The text of Hirdskraa can be more or less conveniently divided into three parts.- §§ 1-26. It starts with some background, eg. on the status of the king, laws of succession, the ranks of men and the manner of appointing men to high office.
- §§ 27-42. The text widely regulates the activities and customs of the royal hird and includes lengthy prescriptions of modes of address, how men should be admitted to the hird and how the different religious and logistical positions within the hird are to be given out. It discusses the conduct of the military hird in war and peace and divides the hird into different levels of status, along with the demands of equipment on the different levels. Three main strata may be distinguished:
- the hirðmen (sg. hirðmaðr) of the royal household proper, who were themselves hierarchically arranged. After the chancellorChancellorChancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
(kanceler), who had risen to prominence in the 13th century, the top layer was formed by landed men (lendir menn), who acted as the king's councillors. From their ranks were recruited the seneschalSeneschalA seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...
(dróttseti), butlerButlerA butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
(skenkjari), staller or marshall (stallari) and standard-bearer (merkismaðr). On a lower level, there were table-servants (skutil-sveinar, lit. 'dish-men'). Some of the names were changed in the reign of Håkon V to more continental titles. After 1277, the landed men (lendir menn) came to be named 'barons' (barúnar) and the skutil-sveinar 'knights' (riddari). - candle-men (kerti-sveinar).
- the gestir (lit. 'guests'), men from the lower classes who are partly exempt from the hird and function as light infantry, scouts and a sort of secret police.
- the hirðmen (sg. hirðmaðr) of the royal household proper, who were themselves hierarchically arranged. After the chancellor
- §§ 43-54. The legal status and demands of position on the different levels of the hird are also set down.
Interpretation
The Hirdskraa was probably more of a guide-book than a strictly interpreted law on how the hird was to function. Many of the incorporated concepts, such as the Norwegian jarl being clearly subordinate to the king (as opposed to more of an allied subordinate as the jarls of the islands within the Norwegian realm) do not always reflect historical facts. It must also be regarded as the Norwegian king's attempts to create a more solid administration for their realm in the 13th century. This is especially true of the reign of Håkon V, who, in contrast to his father, seems to have wanted the hird to lose its corporative nature and be put directly under the king.Primary sources
- Imsen, Steinar (ed. and tr.). Hirðskråen. Hirdloven til Norges konge og hans håndgangne menn. Etter AM322 fol. Oslo: Riksarkivet, 2000. Parallel edition and modern Norwegian (Bokmål) translation. ISBN 82-548-0067-7
- Hirdskraa: i fotolithografisk Gjengivelse efter Tønsbergs Lovbog fra c. 1320. Det norske historiske Kildeskriftfonds skrifter 29. Christiania, 1895.
- Keyser, R. and P.A. Munch (eds.). Norges gamle Love indtil 1387. 5 vols: vol 2. Christiania, 1848. 387-450. Available online from the National Archives of Norway.
- Berge, Lawrence Gerhard (tr.). Hirðskrá 1-37. A Translation with Notes. University of Wisconsin–Madison. 1968. Dissertation, kindly made available online by University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Meißner, R (tr.). Das Norwegische Gefolgschaftsrecht (Hirdskrá). Germanenrechte. Texte und Übersetzungen 5. Weimar, 1938. German translation and introduction.
Secondary literature
- Nordbø, Børge. Hirðsiðir. Om tilhøvet mellom handskrifta av ei morallære frå 1200-talet. Magisteravhandling i norrøn filologi. Oslo, 2004.
- Imsen, Steinar. "King Magnus and his Liegemen’s Hirdskrå: a portrait of the Norwegian nobility in the 1270s." In Nobles and Nobility in Medieval Europe. Concepts, Origins, Transformations, ed. Anne J. Duggan. Woodbridge, 2000. 205-22.