Two of the finest and most evocative of the poems of The Elder Edda, and a tale from The Younger Edda whose poetic form has not survived, became the core of Justice. These are:
The Grottasongr appears to have been put in its present form around the middle of the tenth century. The poet knew and probably survived the unification of Norway by Harald the Fairhaired, who died in a.d. 933.
It appears to me beyond question that when the poet spoke of the Peace of Frothi, he had in mind (rather than some soft, modern vision) the iron-shod peace that Harald imposed on the squabbling petty kings who were his neighbors. Therefore, I've based the background of the novel on the techniques which King Harald used in cold fact.
Reinhard Heydrich employed similar methods when he governed Czechoslovakia on behalf of Hitler. The technique works perfectly—if the person wielding power is both smart and absolutely ruthless. Harald differed from his red-handed fellow Vikings only because he was smarter than the rest of them.
Despite modern impressions to the contrary, there was a highly-developed legal system in Dark Age Scandinavia, from which these Edda tales spring. Courts, compromise, and the reduction of injuries to money payments were the tools of the Law.
But that was the Law. Laws are made by society and applied by society. It's the Law that puts a killer back on the street because he was of unsound mind when he raped and slowly murdered the child selling Girl Scout cookies. Unlike our own civilized place and time, the Vikings also had a system of Justice.
Justice carried a sword.
Dave Drake
Chatham County, N.C.