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Rh

Contents of the LMNL represent only a selection of material from the available medieval legal texts. Four of the editors were given the discretion to determine which terms were legally relevant and merited inclusion in the lexicon. Central legal concepts have been included, as have an expanded set of terms deemed germane to the legal culture of the period. These lists were subsequently brought together to form the core of the lexicon. Not all terms were considered equally necessary by every editor, but all selected terms have been retained in the lexicon with the understanding that some terms may have a more legal significance in one text than in another. Therefore not every term included has been excerpted from all sources used in the LMNL. It is hoped that further material can be included in subsequent editions of the LMNL.

The LMNL is intended to illustrate how cognate terms function across the breadth of the medieval Nordic region. To accomplish this, closely related terms have often been gathered under a single headword. A distinction has been drawn between words with the same meaning that differ merely in the form of a prefix or suffix (which are gathered under one headword) and those that are a combination of distinct elements forming words with the same meaning (which have been treated separately). Thus lyte (ODan) and áljótr (ON) are treated together under the headword lyti (OSw), while arvi (OSw) and arftaki (OSw) are kept separate despite both meaning 'heir'. Certain linguistic distinctions, such as nominal gender and verbal prefixes, have been ignored, as with the OGu and ON terms for 'to gamble' (dufla), which can be found under fordoble (ODan). Extensive cross-references throughout the LMNL ensure that subordinated headword forms and variants remain accessible. Grammatical description has been limited to part of speech for Nordic headwords and in distinguishing homonyms within the English>Nordic section