The Use of Alliteration in a Norwegian Medieval Law – just for Fun?

Abstract

Abstract The article explores the use of alliteration in an ecclesiastical law from medieval Norway. While earlier scholars considered alliteration to be a remnant from preliterate times, von See’s and Ehrhardt’s studies revealed that alliteration was more frequent in younger laws, and therefore supposedly introduced by the Church and the royal government. The material from the Norwegian law confirms that the alliterative formulations are added later on. However, in this particular case, the alliteration has contributed to corrupting the content, an observation which clashes with the ideal of clarity, which was also important in medieval canon law. This fact, in turn, leads to the conclusion that the paragraph draws on different legal traditions, both native, customary law and learned, canon law.