VĂ€stgötalagen (Swedish pronunciation: [ËvÉÌɧËĆtaËlÉËÉĄÉn] or [ËvÉÌsËtjĂžËta-]) or the VĂ€stgöta (Westrogothic) law is the oldest Swedish text written in Latin script and the oldest of all Swedish provincial laws. It was compiled in the early 13th century, probably at least partly at the instigation of Eskil Magnusson and was the code of law used in the provinces of VĂ€stergötland and Dalsland and in Mo hĂ€rad during the latter half of that century. The earliest complete text is dated 1281. Small fragments of an older text have been dated 1250.
This legal code exists in two versions, Ăldre VĂ€stgötalagen and Yngre VĂ€stgötalagen (the Elder and Younger Westrogothic law, respectively). A first printing in modern times was published by Hans Samuel Collin and Carl Johan Schlyter in 1827 (which made the text the subject of the earliest known stemma), and a new edition by Gösta Holm in 1976.