fjölmæli (ON) noun

Generally gossip, loose talk, slander; a broad category of defamatory speech which could be prosecuted. No specific list of such terms is given in the laws, but a 1313 amendment issued by King Hákon Magnússon states that calling someone the son of a whore (ON pútusonr eða hórkonusonr) constituted fjölmæli, and at least two manuscripts of Bj stipulate that saying a man is ‘womanish’ (ON ragr) is considered fjölmæli. It has been suggested that fjölmæli is equivalent to ‘unspeakable words’ (ON ókvæðisorð, see oqvæþinsorþ).

CV s.v. fjölmæli; Ebel 1993,163; Fritzner; Hagland & Sandnes 1997, 106; Hertzberg s.v. fjölmæli; KLNM s.v. ærenkrænkelse