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lög-maðr, m. [old Swed. lagman; the president of the supreme court
formerly held in Orkney was called the lagman] :-- ' law-man. ' In the
ancient Scandinavian kingdoms each legal community or state (log) had
its own laws, its own parliament (lögþing), and its own 'law-man' (lagh-
mann, logmaðr); the lagman was the first commoner and the spokesman
of the people against the king and court at public assemblies or else-
where; he was also the guardian of the law, and the president of the legis-
lative body and of the law courts. As in the heathen time laws were not
written, the lagman had to sry what was the law of the laud in any case
of doubt; in the general assemblies, at least in Iceland, he had to ' say
the law (from memory) to the assembled people from the Law-hill
(LogbergiJ; hence in the Icelandic Commonwealth he was called lög-sögu-
jnaðr (q. v.), the ' law-speaker, ' ' law-sayer, ' ' speaker of the law, ' and his
office log-saga or lög-sögn =' law-speaking:' 1. Sweden and Gothland
in olden times were the classical lands of lagmen, for the whole kingdom
was a confederation of commonwealths, each with its parliament, law-
speaker, and laws, who were all of them united under one king; see the
Various records in the old Swedish laws, Sveriges Gamla Lagar, as edited
by Schlyter, as also the classical account given of lagman Thorgny in O. H.
ch. 60 sqq. -- í hverri þessi deild landsins er sitt lögþing, ok sin log, yfir
hverjum lögum er lögmaðr, ... þat skulu log vera sem hann réð upp at
kveða; en ef konungr, eða jarl, eða byskupar fara yfir land ok eigu þing við
búendr, þá svarar lögmaðr af hendi búenda ...; aðrir lögmenn allir skulu
vera undir-menn þess lögmanns er á Tíunda-landi er, Ö. H. 65. 2.
in Norway the political institutions of the old patriarchal ages were
greatly disturbed through the wars and conquest of Harald Fairhair; the
ancient laws of Norway too have been preserved in a much more
fragmentary state than those of Sweden; of some of the most interest-
ing laws only the eccl. section has been preserved, often in Icelandic
transcripts or abridged. The most interesting records of the lagmen are
therefore not to be found in the Norse laws, but in the Sagas, e. g. the
debates in the Hák. S. Gamla, ch. 71-80, 85-97 (in the Flatey book),
as also in the þinga-þáttr in Fms. vii. 123-150, and in stray passages in
the Icelandic Sagas, in such phrases as lögmenn ok konungr, logmenn
ok dómendr, lenda menn ok logmenn ok alla aiþyðu, Eg. 352. 3.
in the later Middle Age in Norway, and in Icel. after 1280, the
lagman was a justice, who presided in the court lögrétta, at the lögþing
(II), cp. jb. passim. 4. in the Icelandic Commonwealth, the officer
whose duties have been described above was specially called lögsögu-
maðr, and lögmaðr is only used = lagamaðr = a lawyer, -- þat er ok, at
lögsögumaðí skal svá görla þáttu alla upp segja, at engi viti einna miclogi
görr, en ef honum vinsk eigi fróðleikr til þess, þá skal hann eiga stefnu
via fimm logmenn (lawyers, men skilled in law), en næstu dægr áðr, eðr
fleiri, Grág. i. 2, 3; þat skal allt hafa er finnsk á skrdO þeirri er Hafiiði
lét göra ... en þat eitt af annarra lögmajma fyrirsögn (of other lawyers)
er eigi mæli því í gegn, 7; Njáll var lögmaðr svá mikill (so ^ reat a
lawyer), at eingi fannsk hans jafningi, Nj. 30. At the union with Nor-
way (A. D. 1272) the lögsögu-maðr of the Commonwealth was replaced
by two lagmen of the Norse kind, so that in the Sagas composed after
that date (e. g. the Grettla) or in Sagas preserved in later transcripts, the
terms were now and then confounded, and 'lögmaðr' was, by way of
anachronism, used of the lögsögu-maðr of the old Commonwealth, cp.
Grett. 64, 115, 173, 191 new Ed., Nj. 24, 164, 237 (v. 1.), Eg. 597, Ísl.
(Gunnl. S.) ii. 208, 238, 256, Bs. i. (Hungrv.) 62, Fms. iv. 115, 176,
where the 0. H. edition has the true reading, being made from a vel-
lum of the Commonwealth time. P. two instances are recorded
referring to the loth century in Iceland, where a lögmaðr occurs as a
kind of county- sheriff" or officer, viz. in the Háv. S. (begin.) and the
Svarfdæla S. ch. 10; but both records seem to be spurious and adapted
to the state of things in Norway, for neither Saga is preserved in its pure
original state, but remoulded after the union; see Maurqr's Entstehung
des Ísl. Staates, Beitrage, 136 sqq. In Scandinavia during the Middle
Ages, as the power of the king increased, so that of the old lagman
sank, and at last died away. In England it is preserved in the Speaker
of the House of Commons, whose very name recalls to mind the law-
speaker of the old Scandinavian communities. II. a pr. name,
Lög-maðr, Orkn. COMPDS: lögmanns-dæmi, n. the jurisdiction
of a lagman, Fms. v. 266. lögmanns-eiðr, m. an oath of homage
to the king, Gþl. 66. logmarms-lauss, adj. without a lagman, Ann.
I39O- lögmanns-úrskurðr, m. a logman's decree, Jb. 170.
lög-mark, n. a lawful mark on sheep, Grág. i. 416, ii. 308, 309.
lög-mál, n. prescription, rule of the law; skulum vér þat lög-
mál hafa urn útgörðir várar er fyrr hefir ver. it, N. G. L. i. 104; með
þessu lögmáli skulu born hans til arfs koma, 152; greiða lögmál, to solve
a law point, Grág. i. 7; hafði þat lögmál á verit, at..., it was the old
law, that..., 309: = lögskil, mæla lögmálum sínum, Eg. 734. 2.
ordinance, statute, Th. 82, esp. in an eccl. sense; hly'ðinn Guði ok hans
lögmáli, Bs. i. 263; Guð hafði þat birt í inu forna lögmáli, Stj. 42,
Skálda 209, 210 (of the old and new covenant), Bad. passim: in mod.
usage esp. of the Mosaic law, Lögrnálið, N. T., Vidal., Pass. COMPDS:
lögmáls-bók, f. the book of the law, Stj. lögmáls-spjöld, n. pl. the
tables of the law, Th. 10. lögmáls-staðr, m. a law point, Germ, recbts-
punkt, Grág. i. 402; hvat viltú þá göra fyrjr lögmáls-staðinn ? Ísl. ii. 149.
logmals-ork, f. the ark of the covenant, Rb. 374, Pr. 77.
lög-máli, a, m. a law stipulation, Grág. ii. 234, 246, Jb. 201.
lög-met, n. le g' al taxation, N. G. L. i. 90.
lög-metandi, a, m. a legal taxer, surveyor, Grág. i. 88, 397.
lög-mót, n. a ' law-meeting, ' public meeting, Fs. 43.
lög-mæltr, part, defined in the law, prescribed in the law; in the old
oath, oil lögmælt skil, all pleadings or proceedings as prescribed in the law,
Nj. 2^2; see lögmætr below, which seems to be the older form.
lög-mætr, adj. legitimate, as prescribed in the law, oil lögmæt skil
af hendi leysa, Grág. (Kb.) i. 46; ok veita honum í því lögmæta björg,
78; lögmæt sök, a lawful case, Fms. iii. 144. 2. in mod. usage =
lawful; ó-lögmætr, unlawful, not valid.
LÖGN, f., pl. lagnir, [leggja], a net laid in the sea, opp. to a drag-
net, Gþl. 421; lagnar skip, a b oa t used in laying down nets, Eg. 4, O. H.,
D. N. ii. 89: in plur., lagnir, the place where the nets are laid; sela-lagnir,
tie's for catching seals. II. a neut. pl., hans menn róa á sjó at fá
græna fiska með lögn, ok nú urðu lögnin svá þung, at... ., Þior. 71 •
lög-prettr, in. a quibble in law, Fms. vii. 120.
lög-pundari, a, m. a legal steel-yard, Grág. i. 499.
LÖGR, m., gen. lagar; dat. legi. pl. legir, Lil. 31; acc. lögu, Fb. 1. 525
(in a verse); [A. S. lagu; cp. Engl. lake; O. H. G. Iqgu; Lat. locus'] :-- the
sea; koma urn log, to come by sea, Vsp. 51: in the allit. phrase, lopt ok log,
air and s e a, Sks. 47, Skm. 6; lands eða lagar, o n land or sea; or á landi
eða legi, Grág. ii. 171, Al. 107; hvergi kom ek þar lands ne lagar, at... .
Bs. i. 721, ii. 5, í 22; lagar hjarta, 'sea-heart, ' poet, for a stone, Ýt.; lagar
sîóð, the sea steeds' -- ships, Lex. Poët.; stiga land af le, gi, Hkv. Hjörv.
26. 2. a local name of large lakes, e. g. Logr = the Melar in Sweden,
0. H.; or of a great estuary, við á þá er Tanais heitir ok bann log er þar
fellr or, Stj. II. water, any liquid; tak log af grasi, Pr. 471; síðan
tók hann sér log nökkurn, kastaði þar í öskunni, ok gorði af graut, Fms.
ii. 163; ly'si, hunang ok allskyns lögr annarr, K. Á. 206; í vatni vörmu
eða köldu, en öngum legi oðrum eða vokva, H. E. i. 480; af þeim legi
er lekit hafði ór hausi, Sdm. 13; verpa lauki í lög, 8; spræna rauðum
legi, Ó. H. (in a verse); sár-lögr, benja-lögr = blood; hræ-lögr, hjör-lögr,
id., Lex. Poët.: lögr Sonar, Boðnar = the poetical mead, Edda; hver-Higr
Óðins, id., Ht. III. the Rune |\ (A. S. lagu.)
lög-ráðandi, part, a legal guardian, warden, Grág. i. 162 [cp. Germ.
vormund, as also volltniindig] , K. Jj. K. 158; at hann mundi réttr lögráð-
andi fyrir dýltur sinni, Lv. 32; hann let móður sína lögráðandi, Ld. 62.
lög-rán, n. l os s of right, injustice, lawless dealing, N. G. L. i. 88, Eb.
26 new Ed. (in a verse).
lög-rengd, f. a legal challenge, Grág. i. 17, 31.
lög-rengja, d, to quash a suit; 1. mál, fjiðr. 74, (lögrinnt, qs, lögrengt.)
lög-rétt, f. a public fold for gathering and dividing sheep when driven
in from the pastures, Grág. i. 417, Jb. 292.
lög-rétta, u, f. I. ' law-mending, ' an ordinance; þat væri gáð
lögrétta er konungrinn gaf um konunglega refsing, Sks. 670. II.
as a law term, the name of the legislature of the Icel. Commonwealth,
either from rétta log, to make the law right, or perh. better from róU, a
fence, qs. a law-fence, law-yard, law-court, from being held within the
sacred circle, called ve-bond; for the word is used of the place as well
as of the body sitting there, e. g. ganga til Kigréttu, to proceed to the 1.,
Nj. 150. 2. in the Norse law, as also in Iceland after the union with
Norway, lögrétta was the public court of law held during the general
assembly (þing), and presided over by the lagman; the members (lög-
rettu menn) were delegated from all the counties represented in the
assembly, see N. G. L. ii. 10 sqq., as also Jb. þingfara-balk, ch. 2, . 3.
in the Icel. Commonwealth the lögrétta was the legislative held during
the althing on the lögbergi (q. v.), and consisted of the forty-eight
Goðar (see goði); it was presided over by the lögsögu-maðr (see
lögmaðr), and controlled all laws and licences (ráða lögum, ok lofiim),
and was the supreme power in the land; for its power, composition,
and duties, see esp. Ib. ch. 5, Grág. passim, esp. the Lögrêttu-þáttr
or -section of the lögrétta, the |)ingskapa-þáttr, the Njála, and the
Sagas passim; of mod. writers, Maurer's Beitrage, Dasent's Introduc-
tion to Burnt Njál. COMPDS: lögréttu-fé, n. the treasury of the
1., from which the lögsögu-maðr was paid, Grág. i. 3. lögréttu-
maðr, n. [lagraetman, Jamiesonl, a member of the lögrétta, in Icel.
sense, Grág. i. 8; in Norse sense, Jb. i. lögréttu-seta, u, f. a seat
in the 1., Grág. i. 4. l^grettu-skipan, f. the or der, constitution of the
1., as to the number of its members, Jb. 9, Nj. 150. lögréttu-þáttr,
m. the section of law of the \., Grág. i.
lög-réttr, m. a 'law-right, ' lawful due; biskup býðr at gjalda fyrir
málit sex hundruð, ok kailar biskup meir en tvá lô'gréttu, Bs. i. 492.
lög-ripting, f. = lagaripting, Dipl. ii. 12.
lög-rjúfa, rauf, to dissolve by law, Jb. 122 A.
lög-ruðning, f. a legal challenge, of neighbours or judges, Nj. 2. 35.
lög-ræna, t, to deprive of law, to (real unfairly and in a lawless manner,
Gþl. 542, Bs. i. 737.