biltugher (OSw) biltogher (OSw) byltugher (OSw) adj.

This adjective is used to describe someone who was outlawed on what was effectively a temporary basis, with the prospect of returning under the rule of law if fines or compensation were paid in time, and the king had granted him his peace. The fine payable to the king was usually 40 marker in addition to the compensation payable to the victim and the confiscation of property. The crimes for which this punishment was prescribed were those that fell under the category of eþsöris brut ‘crimes against the King's Peace’ such as attacks in the home, and it was in connection with this law that the term first came into use in its legal sense. According to the relevant laws of Svealand and Götaland, the person concerned had to leave the realm until he had discharged his outlawry. It is possible that this was not initially a requirement, although by the time of the national laws, this was clearly the case. The fact that exile was not always essential is exhibited in the fact that an outlaw was seemingly permitted to attend church services (as opposed to excommunicates, whose presence would force the priest to abort the Mass) and could not be dragged out of the church (VmL, UL). There were penalties for sheltering such a person beyond a month after he has been declared outlawed. In this particular statute in VmL and UL it seems that the outlawed person was expected to leave the kingdom, although the text is ambiguous and it might simply mean that he was to leave the province, which perhaps reflects two different forms of outlawry. This latter interpretation is supported by statutes relating to inheritance in which it refers to a child born to an outlawed man who has fled the province (land (q.v.) rather than riki (q.v.)) with his wife, whether that child was conceived before or after he had fled. Only if his child were born in the province could it inherit, and then only if it were conceived either before he was outlawed, or outside the province during his outlawry. An outlawed man could not claim an inheritance himself, even after discharging his outlawry. If he killed someone while outlawed, he was to pay the appropriate compensation after his outlawry had been discharged. According to Schlyter, the punishment was not initially for a fixed term, although this has at times been assumed. It is worth noting that both UL and VmL state that no woman or minor might be outlawed (literally ‘forced to flee from the King’s Peace’), although the word biltugher is not used in this instance. Schlyter considers a derivation from a presumed OSw verb bila, ‘to lack’ (found independently in ON in the meanings ‘fail, break, give way’) with the ending ‑ugher, but cannot himself find a link. It seems, however, that the person concerned is ‘wanting the King’s Peace’, or the rule of law, so such a derivation is not unreasonable. It could also be related to a noun bil, ‘a short time’, also found in ON. SAOB, however, considers all attempts at an etymology unsatisfactory.

outlawed OSw DL Eb
OSw HL Kgb, Äb
OSw KrL Äb Eb
OSw MEL Äb Eb
OSw ÖgL Eb
OSw SdmL Kgb, Äb, Mb
OSw SmL
OSw UL Kkb, Kgb, Äb, Mb, Jb, Add. 3
OSw VmL Kkb, Kgb, Äb, Mb, Jb
OSw YVgL Drb Add Refs:

Ekholst 2009; KLNM s.v. fredlöshed; Lexikon des Mittelalters s.v. bannum; SAOB s.v. biltog; Schlyter 1877, s.v. biltugher