forlíkast

að, dep. [cp. Germ. vergleichen], to come to terms, Sturl. iii. 232: in mod. Icel. law, in all but criminal cases, the litigants have to appear (in person or by delegates) before two or more ‘peace-makers’ or umpires called forlíkunar-menn,—usually the parson and one or more of the chief men of the parish; the office of the peace-makers is to try to bring about a friendly settlement called forlíkan, and this meeting is often repeated; only after a forlíkan has been tried in vain, can the case be taken before a law-court; by this judicious proceeding more than half the quarrels are nipped in the bud; there seems to be nothing like this in the old law, and the custom was probably borrowed from Denmark. There is a saying, ‘a lean forlíkan is better than a fat lawsuit.’