mandrapare (OSw) manndrápari (ON) noun

Although translated ‘murderer’ in Jó (Þfb 5), the more general ‘manslayer’ is perhaps preferable. Appears in SmL in the context of who may be appointed a priest. These requirements are stated in alliterating, to some extent synonymic, pairs: han scall ey wara moorthare eller mandrapære. ey kirkiu brytære eller kloster løpære. ey doblare eller drinkare. ey puto mather eller portkunw. ("He must neither be a murderer nor a manslayer, neither a church thief nor a monastery escaper, neither a gambler nor a drinker, not a man who visits whores or harlots.") The paragraph may in fact be inspired by a letter from the pope Alexander III to the archbishop of Uppsala, written around 1170, where he issues a warning against recruiting criminal priests.


manslayer OSw SmL
murderer OIce Þfb 5 Refs:

Fridell forthcoming; Schlyter 1877, s.v. mandrapare; SL SmL, 438

Citation
  • ‘mandrapare’. A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law.

  • http://www.dhi.ac.uk/lmnl/nordicheadword/displayPage/3503
    (04/24/2024)