ABSTRACT
The language of the text is characterized by several special features, such as metaphors, poetic figures, non-translated Old Danish words, Latin neologisms based on Old Danish words and vocabulary from both Roman law and the ecclesiastical world. By introducing baptism as general condition for accepting an inheritance, as also in the Danish text, the law refers to the reincarnation of man through the holy sacrament. Several references are given to natural equity, and thus the law of man is placed in a setting governed by God and norms higher than the written law itself. This chapter discusses the Liber legis Scaniae which concerns itself with the handling of civil and criminal cases before district assemblies. The 241 articles or chapters found in the Danish version of the Law of Scania have been systematized into 150 chapters in the Liber legis Scaniae. In this way the text only follows the main structure of the Old Danish text with considerable systematic changes.
