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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1976 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 11, 2026

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Was medieval Icelandic democracy a common discussion point on the internet in 2006?? That sounds very ammusing. Dating myself but this is was before the time I got into online forums.

Re: Medieval Icelandic Democracy, see this review of Njal's Saga by an ACX reader:

Remember, medieval Iceland was an early attempt at anarcho-capitalist utopia. When Harald Fairhair declared himself King of Norway, the Norwegians who refused to bend the knee fled west to build a makeshift seastead on a frozen volcanic island. No lords, no kings, no masters. Only lawsuits. So, so many lawsuits.

Once a year, the Icelanders would meet at the Althing, a free-for-all open-air law court. There they would engage in that most Viking of pastimes - suing each other, ad nauseam, for every minor slight of the past twelve months. Offended parties would sell their rights to prosecute a case to the highest bidder, who would go around seeking fair arbitrators (or, in larger cases, defer to a panel chosen by chieftain-nobles called godi). Courts would propose a penalty for the losing side - usually money. There were no police, but if the losers refused to pay, the courts could declare them “outlaws” - in which case it was legal to kill them. If you wanted to be a Viking in medieval Iceland, you needed a good lawyer. And Njal was the greatest lawyer of all.

Ahhh, I would very much assume that these days discussion of Icelandic Lawsuits in the anarcho-syndicalist commune would be a thing. Thinking of people doing it in 2006 is the hilarious.

EDIT: After watching the video, this was an absolute hoot. Somebody make Icelandic saga anime!

That was Scott himself, if I remember correctly. It won the contest but he disqualified it, on the basis that winning your own competition seems gauche.

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