The property of a foreigner who died in the country went to the country in which the man died unless the heir came to claim it. “If English (Enskir) men die here or those whose language or tongue is not known here, then the law does not require that their inheritance be sent out of the country, unless a father or son or brother of the deceased has been in this country and claims it. The inheritance of foreigners received here by law need not be given up except to the heir” (Gragas, i. 224). “King Svein held this feast in Ringstadir, and took great pains that nothing should be wanting to render it more splendid than any before it. The Jomsvikings came on the first day, and King Svein welcomed with great kindness Sigvaldi jarl and all his men. According to old custom the arvel had to be held during the year in which the person died for whom the arvel was made, but the man who gave it could not occupy the high-seat of him from whom he inherited until the arvel was drunk. On the first evening of the arvel many horns were to be filled, as is now done with memorial cups, and there they drank in honour of their mightiest kinsmen, or of Thor and other gods in the heathen times. The horn of Bragi was to be filled last then he who gave the arvel was to make a vow at it, and also all who were at the feast, after which the heir could sit down in the seat of the man for whom the arvel was made, and thereafter enjoy his inheritance and honour” (Fagrskinna, ch. 55). ----- Footnote 74: Cf. also Landnama, iii. c. 10. Footnote 75: The grave probably of the Gothic kings. Footnote 76: A stone for kings to step on at their election. Footnote 77: In this passage we see clearly that only rings were used as money. Footnote 78: God-thjód, Goth-thjód, Got-thjód in different texts, as if connected with _gods_. Footnote 79: Cf. also Hervarar Saga, c. 16. Footnote 80: When paupers have been divided like property, they go from heir to heir, &c. Footnote 81: The son of a man who is a freed man and has a wife before his freedom-ale has been made, and has a son by that woman, shall not take the inheritance of any man though he is carried between _skauts_ (cloak-skirts, laps). (Earlier Frostathing Law, ix. 15). Footnote 82: When a man was unable to manage his property and spoiled it, then it could be divided without his leave by the heirs. Cf. also Frostathing, ix. 20. Footnote 83: Son of a free woman begotten secretly. Footnote 84: Son of a free woman who has had no _mund_ paid. Footnote 85: Kinsmen on the father’s side are preferred to kinsmen on the mother’s side. Footnote 86: A mörk was probably four ounces. Footnote 87: The Frostathing Laws give a general rule for the degrees in which inheritances descended. Kinsmen on the father’s side were preferred to those on the mother’s side. CHAPTER V. FOSTER-BROTHERHOOD.