Editing Mansöngr (section)

=== In Icelandic law ===
The composing of ''mansöngvar'' for or about women is explicitly prohibited by the medieval Icelandic law-code ''[[Grey Goose Laws|Grágás]]'', 'in the younger additions to ''Konungsbók'' (GKS 1157 fol) and ''Staðarhólsbók'' (AM 334 fol), where it is inserted into a passage bearing the title 'vm scaldscap' ('on poetry'), an exhaustive treatment of the different kinds of poetry and the various punishments for them'.<ref>Edith Marold, ' ''Mansǫngr'' — a Phantom Genre?', trans. by Kate Heslop, in ''Learning and Understanding in the Old Norse World: Essays in Honour of Margaret Clunies Ross'', ed. by Judy Quinn, Tarrin Wills, and Kate Heslop, Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, 18 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), pp. 239-62 (pp. 249-50).</ref> But there is no clear explanation of what a ''mansöngr'' is. In the Konungsbók version, §238, the text reads<ref>Text and translation quoted from Edith Marold, ' ''Mansǫngr'' — a Phantom Genre?', trans. by Kate Heslop, in ''Learning and Understanding in the Old Norse World: Essays in Honour of Margaret Clunies Ross'', ed. by Judy Quinn, Tarrin Wills, and Kate Heslop, Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, 18 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), pp. 239-62 (p. 249); she quotes the text from ''Grágás: Islændernes lovbog i fristatens tid, udg. efter det kongelige Bibliotheks Haanskrift'', ed. and trans. by Vilhjálmur Finsen, 2 vols (Copenhagen: Berling, 1852), Ib, 184. For the Staðarhólsbók version see ''Grágás efter det Arnamagnæanske Haandskrift Nr. 334 fol.'', ed. and trans. by Vilhjálmur Finsen (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1879), p. 393 [§377).</ref>

<blockquote>Ef maðr yrkir mansöng vm cono oc varðar scog gang. Kona a söc ef hon er xx. eða ellre. ef hon vill eigi søkia láta. oc a lavg raðande hennar sökena.</blockquote>

<blockquote>If a man composes ''mansǫngr'' about a woman he suffers full outlawry. The woman has to bring the case if she is twenty or older. If she will not have it prosecuted, then her legal administrator has to bring the case.</blockquote>