2084-4115 Anarchist Visions of the Medieval Icelandic Non-State Socio-Political Order – an Outline of a Critique Gogłoza Włodzimierz author Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej w Lublinie 015h0qg34 Correspondence to: Włodzimierz Gogłoza wgogloza@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl 05 12 2018 Zeszyt specjalny, wersja anglojęzyczna 2018 Special Issues 47 67 Copyright © 2018 2018 Between the late 9th and the middle of the 13th century, Iceland was a pre-state society with a political system based on “private” creation, adjudication and enforcement of law. The functioning of this society has been a subject of numerous studies conducted within various disciplines, including legal history, political anthropology and institutional economics. In recent decades, medieval Iceland has also become an object of interest to the various branches of the modern anarchist movement, whose members are prone to looking for historical examples of societies which lack a coercive government. The aim of this article is to critique the anarchist reconstructions of the medieval Icelandic mode of governance. In particular, I try to demonstrate that the anarchist visions of the non-state Icelandic socio-political order are anachronistic and substantially differ from the accounts found in the Old Icelandic narrative sources, as well as in the private collections of the medieval local law, known as Grágás. 1 A Companion to Old-Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, ed. R. McTurk, Oxford 2007. 2 AFAQ: F.9, Is Medieval Iceland an Example of „Anarcho”-Capitalism Working in Practice?, http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionF9 (accessed: 3 January 2017). 3 An Anarchist FAQ, ed. I. McKay, vol. 1, Edinburgh 2008; vol. 2, Edinburgh 2012; http://www.infoshop.org/anarchist-faq (access: 3 January 2017). 4 Anarchy, Geography, Modernity: Selected Writings of Elisée Reclus, eds. J.P. Clark, C. Martin, New York 2004. 5 Becker G., Stigler G., Law Enforcement, Malfeasance, and Compensation of Enforcers, “Journal of Legal Studies” 1974, vol. 3, issue 1. 6 Benediktsson J., Some Problems in the History of the Settlement of Iceland [in:] The Vikings, eds. T. Andersson, K.I. Sandred, Stockholm 1978. 7 Byock J.L, Feud in the Icelandic Saga, Berkeley 1982. 8 Byock J.L., Governmental Order in Early Medieval Iceland, “Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies” 1986, vol. 17, issue 1. 9 Byock J.L., State and Statelessness in Early Iceland [in:] Samtíðarsögur: The Contemporary Sagas, vol. 1, ed. S. Tómasson, Akureyri 1994. 10 Byock J.L., Viking Age Iceland, London 2001. 11 Casey G., Reflections on Legal Polycentrism, “Journal of Libertarian Studies” 2010, vol. 22, issue 1. 12 Clastres P., Society Against State: Essays in Political Anthropology, 6th ed., New York 2007. 13 Cooter R., Ulen T., Ekonomiczna analiza prawa, transl. J. Bełdowski et al., Warszawa 2009 [Polish edition of Law and Economics, New York 1999]. 14 Dixit A.K., Lawlessness and Economics: Alternative Modes of Governance, Princeton 2007. 15 Eggertsson Þ., Economic Behavior and Institutions, Cambridge 1990. 16 Friedman D., Efficient Institutions for the Private Enforcement of Law, “Journal of Legal Studies” 1984, vol. 13, issue 2. 17 Friedman D., Private Creation and Enforcement of Law: A Historical Case, “Journal of Legal Studies” 1979, vol. 8, issue 2. 18 Friedman D., The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism, New York 2014 (3rd ed.). 19 Gelsinger B.E., The Icelandic Enterprise: Commerce and Economy in the Middle Ages, Columbia 1981. 20 Gogłoza W., Analityczny anarchizm – cele, przedmiot i metody badań empirycznych nad stanami natury [Analytical Anarchism: Objectives, Subject Matter and Methods of Empirical Studies of Natural State Cases] [in:] Myślenie o polityce i prawie – przedmiot, metoda, perspektywa [Thinking about Politics and Law: The Subject Matter, Method and Perspective], eds. I. Barwicka-Tylek, A. Czarnecka, M. Jaskólski, J. Malczewski, Warszawa 2015. 21 Gogłoza W., Policentryczny porządek konstytucyjny – zarys historii idei [An Outline History of the Idea of a Polycentric Constitutional Order] [in:] Tendencje rozwojowe myśli politycznej i prawnej [Political and Legal Thought: Historical Trends], eds. M. Maciejewski, M. Marszał, M. Sadowski, Wrocław 2014. 22 Gogłoza W., Spór o historyczność sag Islandczyków w perspektywie antropologii prawa [The Controversy about the Historical Reliability of the Icelandic Sagas] [in:] Księga życia i twórczości. Księga pamiątkowa dedykowana Profesorowi Romanowi A. Tokarczykowi[A Book of Life and Work: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Roman A. Tokarczyk], vol. V: Prawo [The Law], eds. Z. Władek, J. Stelmasiak, W. Gogłoza, K. Kukuryk, Lublin 2013. 23 Gogłoza W., The Social Status of Women in the Old Icelandic Laws [in:] Grettir’s Little Sword: Constructing Masculinity in Old Norse Society, eds. L. Słupecki, R. Gogosz, Wodzisław Śląski (in print). 24 Grønlie S., Ari’s Íslendingabók[in:] Íslendingabók and Kristnisaga, ed. S. Grønlie, London 2006 (Viking Society for Northern Research, Text Series, vol. XVIII). 25 Gould S.J., Kropotkin Was No Crackpot, “Natural History” 1997, vol. 106, issue 1. 26 Hadfield G.K., Weingast B.R., Law without the State: Legal Attributes and the Coordination of Decentralized Collective Punishment, “Journal of Law and Courts” 2013, vol. 1, issue 1. 27 Instytucja „wczesnego państwa” w perspektywie wielości i różnorodności kultur [The Institution of ‘Early State’ from the Multicultural Perspective], eds. J. Banaszkiewicz, M. Kara, H. Mamzer, Poznań 2015. 28 Íslendingabók and Kristnisaga, ed. S. Grønlie, London 2006 (Viking Society for Northern Research, Text Series, vol. XVIII). 29 Jakobsson S., From Reciprocity to Manorialism: On the Peasant Mode of Production in Medieval Iceland, “Scandinavian Journal of History” 2013, vol. 38, issue 3. 30 Jóhannesson J., ÍslendingaSaga: A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth, Winnipeg 2006. 31 Karlsson G., Social Institutions [in:] A Companion to Old-Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, ed. R. McTurk, Oxford 2007. 32 Karlsson G., The History of Iceland, Minneapolis 2000. 33 Karras R.M., Slavery and Society in Medieval Scandinavia, New Haven 1988. 34 Kerekes C.B., Williamson C.R., Discovering Law: Hayekian Competition in Medieval Iceland, “Griffith Law Review” 2012, vol. 21, issue 2. 35 Kristjánsson J., Eddas and Sagas: Iceland’s Medieval Literature, Reykjavík 1988. 36 Kropotkin P., Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, London 2009. 37 Landes W.M., Posner R.A., The Private Enforcement of Law, “The Journal of Legal Studies” 1975, vol. 4, issue 1, pp. 1–46. 38 Laws of Early Iceland. Grágás: The Codex Regius of Grágáswith Material from Other Manuscripts, vol. I–II, eds. A. Dennis, P. Foote, R. Perkins, Winnipeg 1980. 39 Leeson P.T., Anarchy Unbound: Why Self-Governance Works Better Than You Think, Cambridge 2014. 40 Líndal S., Law and Legislation in the Icelandic Commonwealth, “Scandinavian Studies in Law” 1993, vol. 37. 41 Long R.T., Anarchism [in:] The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy, eds. G. Gaus, F. D’Agostino, New York 2013. 42 Long R.T., Market Anarchism as Constitutionalism [in:] Anarchism/Minarchism: Is a Government Part of a Free Country?, eds. R.T. Long, T.R. Machan, Burlington 2008. 43 Long R.T., Privatization, Viking Style: Model or Misfortune?, http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig3/long1.html (access: 3 January 2017). 44 Magnus B., Dwellings and Settlements: Structure and Characteristics [in:] The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century, ed. J. Jesch, Woodbridge 2002. 45 McKay I., An Anarchist FAQ, David Friedman and Medieval Iceland, http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/anarchism/writers/anarcho/anarchism/iceland.html (access: 3 January 2017). 46 Miller W.I., Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland, Chicago 1997. 47 Morriss A., Anarcho-Capitalism [in:] The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, ed. R. Hamowy, Los Angeles 2008. 48 Posner R.A., The Economics of Justice, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1983. 49 Runólfsson B.Þ., Institutional Evolution in the Icelandic Commonwealth, “Constitutional Political Economy” 1993, vol. 4, issue 1. 50 Runólfsson B.Þ., Ordered Anarchy: Evolution of the Decentralized Legal Order in the Icelandic Commonwealth, “Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines” 1992, vol. 3, issue 2/3. 51 Sagi Islandzkie. Zarys dziejów literatury staronordyckiej [Icelandic Sagas: An Outline of Old Nordic Literature], eds. J. Morawiec, Ł. Neubauer, Warszawa 2016. 52 Samson R., Goðar.Democrats or Despots? [in:] From Sagas to Society: Comparative Approaches to Early Iceland, ed. G. Pálsson, Enfield Lock 1992. 53 Sigurðsson J.V., Chieftains and Power in the Icelandic Commonwealth, Odense 1999. 54 Stringham E.P., Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life, Oxford 2015. 55 Taylor L.A., The Representation of Land and Landownership in Medieval Icelandic Texts, 2006, PhD dissertation, University of Oxford (digital copy available from Oxford University Research Archive). 56 Urbańczyk P., Władza i polityka we wczesnym średniowieczu [Power and Politics in the Early Middle Ages], Wrocław 2000. 57 Urbańczyk P., Zdobywcy północnego Atlantyku [Conquerors of the North Atlantic], Toruń 2012. 58 Vésteinsson O., A Divided Society: Peasants and the Aristocracy in Medieval Iceland, “Viking and Medieval Scandinavia” 2007, vol. 3. 59 Vésteinsson O., Archeology of Economy and Society [in:] A Companion to Old-Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, ed. R. McTurk, Oxford 2007. 60 Vésteinsson O., Communities of Dispersed Settlements: Social Organization at the Ground Level in Tenth to Thirteenth-century Iceland [in:] People and Space in the Middle Ages, 300–1300, eds. W. Davies, G. Halsall, A. Reynolds, Turnhout 2006. 61 Vésteinsson O., Patterns of Settlement in Iceland: A Study in Pre-History, “Saga Book” 1998, vol. 25, issue 1. 62 Vésteinsson O., The Archeology of Landnám: Early Settlement in Iceland [in:] Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, eds. W.W. Fitzhugh, E.I. Ward, Washington 2000. 63 Vésteinsson O., The Christianization of Iceland: Priests, Power, and Social Change 1000–1300, Oxford 2000. 64 Whiston T., Medieval Iceland and the Absence of Government, https://mises.org/library/medieval-iceland-and-absence-government (access: 3 January 2017). 65 Wickham C., Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400–800, Oxford 2006. 66 Zori D.M., From Viking Chiefdoms to Medieval State in Iceland: The Evolution of Social Power Structures in the Mosfell Valley, 2010, PhD dissertation (unpublished), University of California, Los Angeles (available on: htttp://www.viking.ucla.edu/zori/davide_zori_dissertation_2010.pdf) (access: 3.01.2017).