vitafé (ON) noun

Literally ‘known property’. The term is used for cases involving debts for which there is evidence (e.g. witness testimony). Such cases cannot be contested by the defendant, thus the definition of ‘secure money’ given by CV. Vítafé is defined in Js Kab 16 as ‘everything that witnesses know of’ (það er allt vitafé er váttar vitu) and in FrL Rgb 19 as ‘that which is secured before witnesses’ (Þat er vita fé er fest er fyrir váttum). This definition was expanded in Jó (Kab 21) to include property adjudged by a court or by the lögmaðr. By the fourteenth century this debt may have been documented in written form.


goods secured by verdict ONorw FrL Rgb 19
known debt OIce Js Kab 16, 21
notorious debt OIce Þfb 2 Llb 4, 13 Kab 4, 16 Fml 15
notorious property ONorw GuL Kpb, Llb, Tfb Refs:

CV; Dyrhaug 2012; F; NGL V

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

  • http://www.dhi.ac.uk/lmnl/nordicheadword/displayPage/5913
    (03/29/2024)