Västgötalagen
Västgötalagen is a legal text for the historic province of Västergötland in Sweden and the oldest coherent document in Swedish that is still fully preserved. The law was written in Latin script. There are older Swedish-language documents, but these only exist as fragments.
It is believed that the text was written around 1220 by Eskil Magnusson, the legal head of Västergötland and a half-brother of Birger Jarl . The surviving copy dates from around 1280 and is kept in the National Library in Stockholm .
A much discussed quote from the law reads: " Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ ". Many historians interpret the site in such a way that only the Svear had the right to elect the king who then ruled Västergötland. Some hobby historians and lawyers from the so-called Visigoth school ( Västgötaskolan ) believe that “ Sveær ” refers to the entire people of Sweden. The latter interpretation is not confirmed by Saxo Grammaticus , who in his work Gesta Danorum also deals with the Swedish controversy for the throne of the 12th century. The term Sweden did not appear before the 15th century and was initially only used for the residents around Lake Mälaren .
After 1281 a new version of the law began, of which only a handwritten copy exists today.
