Ringkvinna

Baugrygr or Ringkvinna was the term referred to an unmarried woman who had inherited the position of head of the family, usually from her father or brother, with all the tasks and rights associated with the position. The position existed in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and into the Middle Ages.

Ringkvinna is primarily mentioned in the Icelandic Grágás and the Norwegian Frostating laws and Gulating laws, in which it is phrased in much the same way. Unmarried women in general, referred to as maer and mey, were secure in their rights of independence: at the age of 20, a woman reached the right of legal majority and had the right to decide about her own place of residence and stand by herself in all juridical senses before the law. These same rights applied to widows. The one exception to her independence was the right to choose a marriage partner, which was a matter for the whole family.