Counter-gift
“If he loses her, her heirs are to receive her dowry, but the counter-gift is forfeited.”
List of Inheritance, chapter 3
A morning gift was given by a husband to his wife. It was to be equivalent to the dowry that she brought to the marriage - thus the name "counter-gift". This counter-gift was also part of the woman’s fortune. If the wife died before the husband, the morning gift was returned to the man, just like the dowry was returned to the wife’s family.
In 1305, King Håkon Magnusson announced that he had received a dowry of 3,000 marks for his wife, Queen Euphemia. The annual salary for a skilled craftsman was nine marks, so this dowry was equivalent to the annual wages of 333 craftsmen. To match this, the king gave the queen Bygdøy, near Oslo, with all its properties as morning gift.
