lawspeaker

From law +‎ speaker; compare lawman.

lawspeaker (plural lawspeakers)

1. (historical) An official in Scandinavian countries whose duties included memorizing laws as well as presiding over, and reciting the laws at, regional Things or the Althing; the office of that person.
   • 1964, Lee M. Hollander (translator), Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, University of Texas Press, 2009, 7th Paperback Edition, page 316,

     In every legal district there is a lawspeaker, and he has the greatest power among the farmers, because whatever he decides to be the law stands. […] But whenever there is a conflict in their laws, then the Uppsala laws prevail; and all the other lawspeakers have a lower rank than the one who functions for the Tíundaland.

   • 1974, Jón Jóhannesson, A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth: Islendinga Saga, University of Manitoba Press, 2006, Reprint, page 48,

     The lawspeaker was the president of the Althing. […] Except for the hallowing ceremony, the lawspeaker was in charge of all the affairs of the Althing.

   • 1996, Daniel Judah Elazar, Covenant and Commonwealth: From Christian Separation Through the Protestant Reformation: The Covenant Tradition in Politics, Volume 2, page 117,

     The lawspeaker received an annual salary of 200 ells of wadmal and half of the fines imposed by the courts. The lawspeaker had to have a thorough knowledge of the law, since he had to recite aloud the body of Icelandic law in the presence of the majority of those present at the Althing over the course of his three-year term […] .

• (ancient Scandinavian official): lawman