The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Guta saga explains Gotland's bargain with the king of the Swedes, its tribute and the duties of Swedish bishops visiting the island, its conversion and its parish churches; Guta lag sets out the island's own law under its thing and its parishes. Together they describe the Gotland that German merchants were already settling at Visby in 1200. Written a generation or two after 1200 and idealised.
About this source
- Title
- Guta lag; Guta saga
- Author
- Anonymous
- Author's dates
- Gotlandic lawmen and clerics
- Written
- Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350
- Language
- Old Gutnish
- Covers
- legendary origins to the 13th century
- Kind
- Law
A community upload of Peel's 1999 Guta Saga exists on the Internet Archive but is not linked here because its rights status is unclear; the Viking Society's own free PDFs should be preferred.
Where to read it
Editions
Translations
- C. Peel (ed. and trans.), Guta Saga: The History of the Gotlanders, Viking Society Text Series 12 (London 1999), English; the Viking Society makes its texts available free on its own site, not verified here (not freely online)
- C. Peel (trans.), Guta Lag: The Law of the Gotlanders, Viking Society Text Series 19 (London 2009), English; not verified as free (not freely online)