Everyman's priest (Allsherjargodi). The Godi of
Reykjavík, a descendant of the first settler there, was called the
Everyman's Priest. He had the office to open the Althing each time
it convened; to sanctify the Thing, and to dissolve it 14 days after opening
it. This office remained with the Reykjavík family up to the middle
of the 12th century. The everyman's priest was the first among equals of
all the Godi's , but apart from that he had his clientele in the same way
as all other Godi-s. The following formula was recited by the Everyman's
priest every time the Althing was opened - according to the record of the
last Reykjavík-Godi, Thormodr, who was called a wise man, so saying:
(It was the beginning of the heathen laws that): Men shall not take the
course to Iceland on war ships with war tokens on their stems. But if they
have such tokens, they shall take down the head before they come into the
sight of land, and never sail to the land with gaping heads and yawning
snouts - so that the Land-Wights may be offended.
From: The Book of Settlements
With reference to the Land-Wights (unseen Guardians
of the Land), it is forbidden by Law to sail towards the Land of Iceland
with warlike tokens. This can, of course, be interpreted as a kind of unison
between all of the in-habitants of the Land against foreign invasion. As
already stated this Law remained effective as long as the Godic Republic
lasted. During the time of the Godic Republic not a single invasion of
Iceland was ever attempted. There were plans certainly about the conquest
of Iceland among some foreign rulers which shall be mentioned later in
this writing. The Land-Wights do indeed enter the scene in that connection
relative to possible conquests of Iceland.
Word-combinations. The name Allsherjargodi - Everymans's Priest
- is a name parallel to several Icelandic word- combinations, old and new.
When Icelanders speak of Allsherjardrottinn (God of Everything) which is
done even within congregational limits, they mean the All God of the entire
Cosmos. Thus nothing that exists is exempted from the Allsherjar Drottinn.
When our people go on strike (which they do too often) that may, in critical
cases, develop into a general strike, which is called allsherjarverkfall,
while the opposite tendency results in allsherjarsamkomulag, which is a
complete and general agreement of all.
A Main Temple (höfudhof) belonged to every Godi in his district,
as already stated, and was the meeting place in the religious sense for
his clientele, while the Things were of a more "worldly" character.
The Main Temple of the Everyman's Priest was in an area named Hofstadir,
which is located about 5 kilometers south of Reykjavík. However,
no archeological excavation have been undertaken in the area to verify
if a Main Temple was located there. (In 1995-1997 archeologist Ragnheidur
Traustadóttir completed excavations there, and her materials now
await publication. ThG)
The Lawspeaker (Master of Jurisprudence). The office of the Lawspeaker
was not an Icelandic invention, however, in Iceland it got a new meaning
and importance, and especially so because this was a land where there was
no supreme ruler. The custom honored by the people of the Isle of Man,
that the Governor shall ascend to the Tynwald Hill and read all new laws,
reminds us not so little of the Lawspeaker's office. He was required to
recite one-third of all the laws of Iceland during every Althing, within
its 14 days' duration, so that anybody who could, and desired to, might
learn all the laws of Iceland within three years time by this process.
When Ulfljótr had completed his reading of the introduction and
his explanation of the first Law-proposals, they then elected a new Lawspeaker,
who was Hrafn Haingsson of the South of Iceland. Hrafn Haingsson is usually
referred to and recognized as having been the first regular Lawspeaker
of Iceland. All Lawspeakers from 930-1271 are known by their name and their
number of years in this office are known and recorded. About the most outstanding
representative of this office is Thorkell Máni (Th. the Moon) of
Reykjavík, who was also everyman's priest during his lifetime.
The Lawspeaker was the chairman at the Lögrétta meetings, and
he had the right and power to decide at what time special sittings were
to be held. "He summons to the Lögberg those people he wants".
The Lawspeaker thus had a strong position which could influence the proceedings
in both of the central institutions of the Althing: Lögberg and Lögrétta.
The Lawspeaker had a salary from the Althing and he thus seems to be the
only man rewarded in that way by the Althing.
Even though the Lawspeaker was a most honored man, he was not excepted
from the Law.There was a special amendment to the Law about his penalty,
if he should neglet his office. "Anybody who cares could take up the
matter of neglect" - this amendment said. The Law in this respect
rested upon the assumption that human reactions were alive, not dead, and
that people cared to do the necessary things.
The Land-Wights (Unseen Guardians). We should avoid the use of the
word "spirit" in relation to beings cultivated by the Northern
Folks. We may put off here the real philosophical question about the nature
and existence of such beings (although the riddle has been completely solved
in modern Icelandic philosophy). It must be stressed, however, that the
word " andi" (spirit) does not even occur in the secular vocabulary
of Iceland until towards the end of the Godi Republic.
The Land-Wights are repeatedly referred to in connection with Settle-ment
accounts, and as already stated, so it was in the first Law. The "Book
of Settlements" relates that a certain Molda-Gnúpr and his
family had a special favor conferred upon them by the Land-Wights. There
are a number of accounts, even whole Sagas relating to that distant realm
of the Land Wights. Sometimes this realm is associated with hills, mountains,
and other parts of the landscape. The most famous of all the Land- Wight
stories is that related by Snorri Sturluson in his (Sagas of the Norwegian
Kings). In these sagas it is told that the Danish King Harald Gormsson
planned an invasion into Iceland about 975. He sent a wise man, in the
shaman-like fashion ("out- of-the body"!) to investigate the
conditions. This shaman met four large beings; each of them representing
the foremost Godi in each of the four parts - Quarters - of Iceland. The
shaman was confronted with "all mountains and hills being full of
Land- Wights, some of them small,some large. Even in this story it appears
clearly that the Land-Wights had the task to defend the country against
foreign aggression.
There is no reason to assume that the Land-Wights werer just stereo-type
ideas, formed according to some oriental models, as some writers have believed.
The diversity of the numerous beings and their organic coherence is such
that this needs no more refutation. The Land-Wights mentioned by Snorri
were as follows: a dragon for the quarter of the East; an eagle for the
North; a bull for Breidafjörd (West); and a giant for the South. These
figures must be considered the "Fylgjur" (foregoing emanations)
of the respective Godi-s, indeed closely corresponding to the recorded
mental characteristics of each of them, namely: Brodd- Helgi in the East
(a harsh character - the dragon); Eyjólf Valgerdarson in the North
(the eagle, a dominant character); Roaring Thord (whose voice was strong
as the roaring bull's) in the West, and Thorodd (a mighty, influential
Godi - the giant) in the south.
Each of these beings had with them a large train of fellow beings moving
to and fro and least of all behaving like sterotypes. When the Arms of
Iceland were depicted at a later date, however, it could not have been
avoided to stereotype some of the most important Fylgjur of these Godi-s.
Godi-s and their Thing-Attendants (clients). The word Thing-Attendant
had a meaning partially resempling that of the modern "voter"
or "supporter". In the politics of Iceland, up to the present
day, some flavor of the old relationship between the two has survived,
although this was much more complete in the old days. Every free man could
declare himself into the Thing of the godi he choose, with the latter's
consent. This was a free agreement between individuals, the Godi and the
Thing-Attendant. Icelanders could even support a Godi who lived in the
farthest part of the country. The choice of Godi was entirely up to the
individual, but most supported a Godi who was located close to them. When
they moved from one district to another, they usually declared themselves
"out of the Godword" of the previously neighboring Godi, and
into another Godword, by personal agreement with his new Godi.
The mutual confidence between a Godi and his followers, seems to have been
quite important to both parties. Godi-s took it as their duty to protect
their clients against encroachments from outsiders; to support them in
legal suits; and on the other hand to reconcile his own clients mutually
. To be sure, these relations were different with the different characters
involved. One of the finest features of the Old Icelandic public opinion
is that it favored uprightness and sincerity. A Godi who was both strong
enough and sincere was most respected, and the number of clients to each
Godi was not larger than that they could know each other personally. With
the increase of the number of clients to each Godi towards the end of the
Republic the stable rerlationship between Godi-s and their clients began
to slacken.
Kálfr Guttormsson, a rich farmer in the North of Iceland could expect
execution by his enemy, and his Godi, Sighvatr, was unable to assist hims
for his residence wass far away. Then Kálfr remarked to his wife:
"Today I will declare myself into the Thing of the Holy Peter"
(St. Peter). "The Chieftains of this world are becoming less dependable".
Nothing shows better than these remarks of Kálfr how important the
Godic relations were stil in the final phase of the Godic reign. St. Peter
and the Godi Sighvatr were comparable figures in the Kálfr's mind,
and the choice was between them for protection. And this was about 235
years after Iceland's conversion to Christianity !
For a Godi it was important to select the proper people for the Althing
expedition with him. Among them had to be the best Lawmen (lawyers), the
quickest riders and connoisseurs; the most dexterous with arms, in the
case of confrontations. Young people were anxious to get to the ALthing
and were "advanced" when they came back. Often the unmarried
daughters came with their fathers and in many cases liasons were formed
during their stay at the Althing. In Godic times there were as a result
of this practice far more weddings between people of different districts
than there were in later times, when the Althing meetings had become weaker.
The Thingvellir Eloquence. Philologists have often wondered why
there has been so little difference between dialects in Iceland, contrary
to the condition that has developed in most other Germanic countries, regardless
of whether these other countries were large ones or small ones. Here in
Iceland, the dialect differences are so negligibly small that they can
in no way be compared to dialects in other neighboring countries. This
is all the more to be marvelled at because our island is very large and
hence communication between its distant districts, was exceedingly difficult
in former times. Of the explanations for the slight differences between
dialects, that have been attempted, are: the wide distribution of Folk
songs in strict metre (rímur), over many centuries; the distribution
of all kinds of other poetry and literature; the free movement of persons
and families between districts; the pursuit of and valuation of genealogies;
the folklore arts of all kinds, the common schools in which the would-be
ministers gathered from widely distant parts of the land to learn the art
of preaching; the speeches of Law-men at the Althing which had to be intelligible
to all. In addition there was a deep rooted respect for the language itself
(málvendni) among our people. Even during what we call the "humiliation
period" of about1600, the Bishop Gudbrandur remarked that "our
language needs not borrow from the broken language and the bad grammars
of other nations". This respect for the language was a valued heritage
from the Old Althing.
"To carry a Godword" meant, in the beginning, nothing less than
speaking the language of the Gods and we need not doubt that there was
a strong ring in such a voice. It even meant power for him who spoke so,
for this power of the voice helped the Godwordsmen to become Rulers of
the land. In the first Lögrétta they spoke loudly and clearly,
so that every syllable was distinctly heard.
Poems like "Husdrapa" (In Honor of a New House) by Ulf
Uggason, Thorsdrapa ("In Honor of Thor") - and "Kristsdrapa"
(In Honor of Christ), could not have been composed except in a society
where the power of expression was honored. Sometimes it depended on the
speech made in behalf of a certain matter, or against it, as to what ends
the matter was brought in the Althing. In the Althing of 984 the missionary
Thorvaldr tried to preach Christendom for the audience. His heathen opponent
proved more eloquent and with better argumentation, so that the case was
dropped automatically. The missionary became very hateful for this outcome,
and deceitfully murdered the opponent in a Norwegian forest a year later.
Sagas were recited at the Althing. "Sturla was at home at his
Booth and was being entertained (by saga-tellers), says the Saga of Sturla.
And in the account of "The Saga-Telling-Icelander",we
are told of two Saga-tellers, one of whom was a man named Halldór
Snorrason, who lived in the 11th century and told Sagas at the Althing
- after his famous Viking-expeditions in the Mediterrean, along with his
friend and leader of the champaigns, Harald Hardrada,later King of Norway.
Other people listened to him and learnt much from about the art of Saga-
telling, and about the substance of various Sagas. These early roots of
the Sagas are often ignored by some false historians of the present time,
who want to put the sagas into the realm of "fiction". The Saga-art
was very old in Scandinavia even before the settlement of Iceland, but
it can surely be inferred that the Saga tellings at the Althing contributed
to the refining of this art. And historical criticism, relative the accuracy
of each saga, was obviously sharper there at the Althing than in any of
the districts where local opinions might prevail.
The Althing was the unifying center of all national life in Iceland during
the Godic period. Ever since that time Icelanders have born this mark of
their origins within their dispositions. Anybody who reads the Njals Saga
with attention - which saga is like clairvoyant through all Icelandic history
past and present to the author himself - will not fail to understand that
all of the main threads of the Saga are like woven together through Thingvellir
and are Thingvellir oriented, in a higher degree than any other saga. A
Saga that relates the proceedings at the Althing with accuracy and at length
can hardly be written except by some of the Godis or their assistants.
No Saga author is as thoroughly acquainted with the Althing and Thingvellir
as the author of the great Njals Saga.
The Dates of Conventions and the Journeys Thereto. The riding distance
to Thingvellir was, of course, very different from the different districts
or Quarters of Iceland. The Saga of Hrafnkell says that there is
a seventeen days' riding from Fljotsdalur in the East to Thingvellir. That
means that it takes 34 days to travel both ways and add to this travel
time the 13- 14 days' stay at the Thing which totals about 48 days. However,
from most districts the journeys were considerably shorter. Nevertheless,
to ride to the Althing must have been an expensive and difficult enterprise
for most men and even so it is indeed astonishing how much participation
there was in it, when all of this is taken into account. The harbor nearest
to Thingvellir was at a place called Eyrar, which is now known as Eyrarbakki.
At Eyrar, the ships from other countries with cargoes for Arnessysla and
for the Althing landed, and it was from there, in those days, that they
sailed out to other countries. There are no indications however, that the
seaway was used for travel to attend the Althing from other parts of Iceland
(in strict contrast to Norway (West and North from where most settlers
came from to Iceland).
At the Althing, the week commenced on Thursday. The date for the holding
of the convention was, up to the year 999 the Thursday of the 10th week
of Summer according to the special Icelandic calendar. In the year 999,
it was decided in a flurry, that the next year's convention should be in
the beginning of the 11th week. This date for the conventions was held
until the end of the Godic Republic. At the end of the day of the convening,
Thursday evening, all Godi-s should have convened. In that evening the
Thing was sanctified by the Allsherjargodi.
On the Friday morning, after convening on Thursday, the Lawspeaker announced
the rules for the Thing procedures. >Immediately after the rules were
announced a new Lawspeaker was elected at the Lögrétta, if
such an election was necessary that year. Then the Lögbergsganga took
place, and this seems to have been quite a festive ceremony. On the first
Friday, and the Saturday following, the summons and announcements were
made at the Lögberg. On the night before Sunday (Saturday night),
"courts went out", which meant that they sat under the free sky
all the night. Prior to this going out under the free sky, the judges had
been appointed by the Godi-s who then put them into "the pass between
the cliffs" as we have already mentio-ned in this writing (p.38).
The place where they did this was close to the still preserved ruins of
the Snorrabud.
"The Wednesday in the Mid-Thing" (the 7th day after beginning
the convention) was the "Payment date" for all Iceland
- so fixed by Law. This was the date when both personal and official debts
were to be paid. The place where this took place at the Althing was "the
farmer's churchyard", at Thingvellir, which was close to the bridge,
and therefore, an ideal meeting place for people from Búd-s from
both sides of the Axe-River. Thew last day of the convention was the second
Wednesday in the Thing-time, and it was called "Thing-dissolving day"
or "the taking of arms". This was a necessary act, for during
the Thingtime,arms had to be placed in , and preserved at a certain place
so that men shuld be, as was required, without arms in the Thing area.
So, when they were about to leave on their journey, they "took to
their arms, and beat with them on their shields as they rode away from
the Thing-area.
Leidar-Thing. When the Godi-s with their followers had returned
from the Althing to the respective districts, they had to hold a special
Thing that was called Leidar-Thing. In the Laws, only three regular duties
were stated relative to that Thing: to announce new laws proclaimed at
the Althing, to explain the Icelandic claendar, and to explain the Church
Calendar (feast days). But we understand that in practice the Leidar Thing
was a means to distribute all kinds of informations collected during the
Althing journey. Just as the Vorthing was the first preparation to the
Althing, in each district, so the Leidar-Thing was the last of all the
Thing procedures every year.
The Calendar. Some scholars have argued that astronomical observations
and related calculations had risen to a high level among the Teutonic Nations,
before and about the time when Iceland was colonized. According to O.S.
Reuter they achieved for example, that a proper Pole Star for the North
was established for the Middle Ages and it was known among the Germans
and the Englishmen of the early middle ages as the Loadstar (32 camelopardalis
hevelii is its present designation). Apparently soe sailing routs went
along Grand Circle routes of the globe. Astronomical measurements by specially
designed instruments are indicated in our language by wors like "sólbord"
(sun-board); sólarsteinn (sun-stone) and others.
According to Ari-the-Learned, however, the Icelanders, by the beginning
of the Althing (930), had not proceeded further in their astronomical calculations
than reckoning 364 days or 52 weeks in a year. Accordingly when they began
to assemble at a fixed date every year, that date gradually moved "back
to the Spring", for it had then followed the 364 days' rule."They
discovered this from their observations of the Sun", says Ari. He
adds that they could not explain it. A man named Thorsteinn Surtr (Blackhair)
living near the Breidafjördr in the west of Iceland, proposed at the
Althing that: "every seventh year should be increased by a
week". Consequently seven full years would thus become 365 days each
by proportion. This occurred either in 953 or in 960, and the proposal
was immediately made Law at the advice of Thorkell Moon and other wise
men.
This illustrates that the regularity of the meetings of the Althing created
the need for a more precise calendar than before. Still decades passed
and the remaining one-fourth part of the day in a year began to add up
and to be felt. About 1140 the astronomer Stjörnu-Oddi (Oddi-the-Star-Gazer)
made a new amendment to the calculations and thus at the same time with
this amendment made the Icelandic calendar harmonize with the Julian Calendar
of the Church. By 5 extra weeks added in each 28 years, a kind of perpetual
calendar (or perpetually concurrent with the Julian Calendar),was attained
for Iceland. "This Farmers' Year's calendar, invented by Thorsteinn
and Oddi in the Godic era, was still the common calendar reference on the
countryside in Iceland, even into the beginning of this century. This traditional
Icelandic calendar, was no scanty "folk calendar, such as the folklorists
hafe been able to trace in some other countries. It was a regular and carefully
calculated calendar which had been accepted and legalized by the Godic
Althing long, long ago.
Lögberg. Lögberg is the place, which through the power of memory
reigns over Thingvellir more than anything else. The Lögberg is located
on the eastern, lower brink of the Almannagjá (Everyman's Cleft).
It can be located just behind the flagpole which was erected on it when
the Republic was reestablished in 1944. It is on this spot, where the Allsherjargodi
(Everyman's Priest) sanctified the Thing meetings in the 10th week of Summer,
and it was here that he dissolved the Althing 14 days later. On the Friday
of the Althing meetings, the Lögberg procession walked to "the
spot". It was there that all kinds of summoning and announcements
took place. Close to the Lögberg was the "pass between the cliffs"
where Judges were appointed. In addition to these major events the chief
attraction, that secured attendance throughout the whole Thingtime, was
the Pronouncement of the Laws, made by the Lawspeaker, which he made from
the Lawspeaker's Chair. Into this place came those people of Iceland, and
from abroad, who wanted to bring news to the Thing, and consequently, all
those who wanted to hear the news, even assembled there, too. This was
the "mass media" of that time. It is a positive sign of the free
and unprejudiced spirit there that it was possible for Thorsteinn Surtr
to convince the Thing-Officials and all of the attendants by his speaking,
at the Lögberg spot, of the necessity for a calendar reform.In Rome,
the authority of a powerful Ruler, of Caesar himself, was needed for enforcing
a calendar reform). - The first descriptions of the settlement possibilitiesin
Greenland were delivered there. It was there that the news about all kinds
of great events in Europe were disclosed. It was there, also, that Hedinn-the-Mild
defeated Thorvald-the Missionary's articles of religion in 985. The first
news about the discovery of lands in the North-American Continent, in the
years 985-1000 was heard here. From the shores of the Black Sea in the
East; from Nova Scotia, from St.Lawrence and Boston in the West; from Gibraltar
(Njörva-sund) in the South, and from the North of Greenland (Nordrseta)
news came together in Thingvellir. For a while the focus of views upon
the world's events was in this place.
The Lögrétta was, as we have already stated, the center for
legislation in Iceland. At first, its seats were occupied by 36 Godi-s
and later on by 48 Godi-s. From each of the 13 District Things came 3 Godi-s,
this making 39 in all. For reasons of equal weight of the power for each
Quarter of Iceland, there were added 9 "Godwords of provisional validity"
to the number of 39 thus making a total of 48 (12 from each Quarter of
Iceland. This arrangement remained as long as the Godic Republic existed.
Every Godi had with him at meetings, 2 Counsellors. One of them sat on
the bank in front of his Godi, another on the bank of the rear of the Midbank,
where only Godi-s had their seats. The Midbank was extended to form a circle
as the other banks. When Bishops at a later date were introduced to the
circle, they too sat on the Midbank.
To convene a meeting of the Lögrétta a call was made for all
to hear to "clear the Lögrétta". This call was to
drive away anybody not concerned who might be obstinate eneough to remain
there. Disobedience to the call to "clear the Lögrétta"
had a high penalty. As already mentioned, the Godi-s were originally Priests
of the Temples taking messages from the Gods. They went with a Godword
to the Althing. Later on, the Godword became an inheritable office. They
could even be bought and sold. However, they were never subject to the
tithe. "That is a reign but not a fiscal property", says the
Greygoose-lawbook. It seems as if the Godi-s found it important that the
Godwords should not be subject to taxation by the Church. For a long time
there was a reasonable stability in the Godword-order. However, around
1200 the Godwords began to be assembled into the hands of a few rich and
influential families. Some of these rich and ambitious families carried
the names of: the Oddaverjar, the Sturlungs, the Asbirnings, the Haukdalir,
the Svínfellings and the Vatnsfirdings - among the most prominent
ones of those times. The final period of the Godic Republic, 1229 -1262,
is dominated by the power struggle between these families. The Lögrétta
at Thingvellir was as already stated, in the beginning like its Norwegian
precedents, a court. That Court however, apparently in its first sitting
transformed itself into a legislative body. When Iceland went under the
sway of Norway in 1262, the Lögrétta characteristically returned
to its former Norwegian type of function.Thus it became a court in which
the will of the King was predominant, represented as it came to be gradually,
by a representative of the King. Nevertheless the Lögrétta
long retained, under camouflaged forms, the power to issue Laws, which
were therefore called resolutions - but they were put in force. The Laws
("Our Laws"). The Ulfljót's-Laws (Oldest Laws) were the
first section of Laws to be accepted. We may assume that a rapid development
of Laws took place throughout the 10th century. Among the most important
of the early amendments was the one establishing the division of Iceland
into four regional Quarters: The North, the South, the West and the East.
This made a more stable arrangement of the District Things, and the three
separate Godwords composing each of them. This arrangement remained unchanged
after once being established. Another very important amendment was that
of establishing the Fimtardómur (The Fifth Court), which was their
high Court, to which cases could be appealed. On the whole the constitutional
amendments proved sound and effective, as if they had been thought out
for longlasting. The writing of the Laws is recorded to have begun in 1117-18
at Breidabólstad in North Iceland, at the farmstead of a rich Godi
named Haflidi. The first writ was called the Haflidi-writ (Haflidaskrá
). It constituted the basis of the Code of Godic Laws later called Grágás
("Greygoose"), which is our current name for the complete existing
collection of Godic Laws. - Some scholars have anticipated that prior to
Haflida-skra the Laws were preserved not only for recollection, but that
memory was supported by Runic writs, now completely lost. They find their
support to this hypothesis in the fact that in the oldest preserved parchments,
some runes are used as abbreviations for words in the texts. such as the
M-rune for Madr ("m") and others. The language used in the Laws
of the Gragas is: pure, forceful and elegant; the instructions are clear
and the main concepts well defined. There are two main manuscripts: the
King's Codex and the Book of Stadarholl. Both of these are recommended
to those who want to learn the Icelandic language and to know the Icelandic
pattern of thought thoroughly. In the Days of Our Fathers "In the
days of our fathers the Law was made that all men in this Country should
be Christian, and believe in one God,father, son and the holy ghost".
Book of Stadarholl It is agreed among scholars that the Code of Christian
Laws in Grey-goose (the christian part of the Greygoose Laws), was written
in the years 1122-1130. It is possible that the above passage was worded
even before that time, but anyhow, no other Nation in Europe has such a
sentence about its conversion to Christianity. This shows that it was a
predominant opinion in Iceland 120 years later that the conversion had
been brought about, not by missionaries, miracles or martyrdom, but just
by a simple vote in the Lögrétta, or by an acceptance of the
Lawspeaker's proposal. One gets the impression from the above that the
lawmaking of the Fathers was the primary, decisive action, and therefore
more basic than the conversion itself. Note how the "air" of
this original wording is more dignified in this than in later, "more
christian" manuscripts: "It is the beginning of our laws, that
all men shall be.... etc.". Apparently a decline in the style of writing.
It is obvious that subjects that are made Law are revertible, can be annulled
and the opposite be established again.