The law forced the elderly to transfer their land to the next generation when their physical strength weakened, but the law also forced the new owner to support the previous for their remaining time in life. The main rule was, that changes in the statues for a villages were to be accepted by all farmers unanimous. The statues could however stipulate that other decisions were to be made by a majority. Unanimity was however the basic rule for how decisions were to be made at meetings in villages and parishes. This tradition of unanimous decisions must have contributed to the Swedish custom of adjustment of ones attitudes to the perceived majority.
Unanimous decisions demand a high degree of compromises from the individuals.
The members of a tribe were obliged to avenge injuries against their dead and mutilated relatives. A balancing structure is necessary to hinder tribe fights to lead to anarchy destructing the society. The ing met at regular intervals, legislated, elected chieftains and judged according to the law recited and memorized by the law speaker . The ing's negotiations were presided by the chieftain or often by the law speaker. New laws were decided at the landsting, which also took other decisions regarding the island as a whole.