Quickfire or Quick-fire was a type of arson sometimes employed in blood feuds in medieval Scandinavia and Iceland. In committing quickfire, a group of attackers would quickly and surreptitiously pile wood, brush and other combustible materials against the exterior of a dwelling and set it on fire. Typically the attackers would surround the house to prevent the escape of its inhabitants, although women, the elderly, and small children were sometimes allowed to leave.

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  • Quickfire or Quick-fire was a type of arson sometimes employed in blood feuds in medieval Scandinavia and Iceland. In committing quickfire, a group of attackers would quickly and surreptitiously pile wood, brush and other combustible materials against the exterior of a dwelling and set it on fire. Typically the attackers would surround the house to prevent the escape of its inhabitants, although women, the elderly, and small children were sometimes allowed to leave. Under Icelandic law as codified in the Gragas, quickfire could be punished by death only if the arsonists were killed in the act. However, if captured alive the arsonists had to be tried and sentenced to outlawry, even if they were thralls. Failure to observe these formalities could result in the killer of quickfire-arsonists being prosecuted himself. At least some Icelanders considered quickfire dishonorable, hence when the enemies of Gunnar Hámundarson attacked his home they refused to burn him inside, despite the fact that it would have been faster and less costly in lives. Members of Gunnar's clan showed no such scruples when they burned Bergthorshvoll, home of Gunnar's erstwhile ally Njal and his sons.
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  • Quickfire or Quick-fire was a type of arson sometimes employed in blood feuds in medieval Scandinavia and Iceland. In committing quickfire, a group of attackers would quickly and surreptitiously pile wood, brush and other combustible materials against the exterior of a dwelling and set it on fire. Typically the attackers would surround the house to prevent the escape of its inhabitants, although women, the elderly, and small children were sometimes allowed to leave.
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  • Quickfire
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