The Stateless Society of Saga-Age Iceland Violence in Hrafnkels Saga Freysgoða

Abstract

The 2011 publication The Better Angels of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker warrants a re-examination of the Hobbesian principle of the Leviathan. This thesis examines the supposed violent nature of stateless societies by way of a case-study, 13th century Iceland. It combines existing research with an in-depth analysis of Hrafnkels Saga Freysgoða. The analysis demonstrates that descriptions of violence were common, but violence was always limited by social hierarchy, laws, and conventions. The honor-driven, feuding society of medieval Iceland was highly complex and violent resolutions were often a possibility, but rarely the only viable way forward. The characterization of non-state societies as inherently violent is therefore problematic.