Hrafnkel Frey's Godi

The first difference I noticed in this saga verses the others, is the constant referel to actual quoted social understandings and bylaws. In other sagas, these things are implied, or if they are referred to it is not done in quote so formal a manner, ie "he who gives warning is not at fault" (440) and "it's a wise man who knows himself" (443).

This saga also differed, as I noticed many have already commented, based on the fact that there is much more detailed information regarding the law and procedures of the time. The Day of Summons, the importance of finding cheiftains, and the Law Rock, are all very specific and detail-oriented tidbits of the story that other sagas often brushed over with a simple phrase, such as, "and they they went to the Althing and it was settled." I do wonder how the ammount of detail (such as the number of days [14] after Weapon Taking that a court date is to take place) remained so accurate over the years until this tale was recorded, or if these procedure details were based off of similiar proceedings taking place at the time when it was recorded.

I also found it sort of miraculous that they were able to hold a court so similar to the justice system that we practice today. The most significant difference is the importance of a crowd for either side.

Another difference I noticed was brief insights into the characters' thinking, such as Sam's remark that "he would rather choose to live, but thought that both alternatives were hard." It is rare that we are given information on the direct thoughts of characters, so it was nice to see information on his decision process.

Overall, I liked that each event that progressed in this story was explained according to common law or reasoning, so that really, the characters could not argue with the course of events and the outcomes because the offender or the starter of the action had premeditated his reasoning and built a sort of case against the other. It made for a neat, and tidy chain of events.