Copy of Svein Sigurdsson's gift to Erling
DN 1/224 · 12 Oktbr. 1333 · Tunsberg
What the letter says
In Tønsberg on 12 October 1333 the lawman Guttorm Kolbjørnsson, Guttorm Eiriksson and Torvid Trondsson make a certified copy of a deed of gift from Svein Sigurdsson. In the original letter of 1 January 1330 Svein gave the drottsete Erling Vidkunsson a third of Hval in Sogndal in Sogn, forty månedsmatsbol, with sixty kyrlag of the livestock, four horses and his share in the mill by the waterfall. He also gave six månedsmatsbol in Valaberg, which yielded three barrels of tar in rent. After Erling's death his daughter Gyrid was to own the gifts.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all men who see or hear this letter, Guttorm Kolbjørnsson, lawman, Guttorm Eiriksson and Torvid Trondsson send God's greeting and their own. We wish to announce to you that on the Tuesday before the winter nights (the beginning of winter in mid October) in Tønsberg, in the 14th year of the reign of our worthy lord Magnus, by God's mercy King of Norway, Sweden and Götaland (the editor dates the letter to 12 October 1333), we saw and heard an open letter from Svein Sigurdsson, with his seal and mine, Guttorm Kolbjørnsson's, and mine, Torvid Trondsson's, whole and undamaged. It reads word for word as it stands here, unfalsified in everything: [Here follows letter no. 207 in the edition.] As true testimony we set our seals to this certified copy, which was made on the said day and year. Endorsement: On the back in a contemporary hand: «brev om Hval».
Original text (excerpt)
Ollum monnum þæim sem þatta bref sia edr hæyra sænda Gud- þormr Kolbiarna son loghmadr Gudþormr Eiriks son Þoruidr Þronda son Q. G. ok sina ydr vilium ver kunnikt gera a tysdaghen nesta firir vetenatar j Tunsbæirghi a fiurtanda are rikis vars wyrdulegs herræ Maghnusar med guds miskun Norex Suia Gota konungs saam ver ok hæyrdum opet bref Suæins Sigurda sonar med hæilu ok vskauddu hans inzighli ok minu Gudþorms Kolbiarna sonar ok minu Þoruiz Þronda sonar er sua vatar orð efter orde sem her sæigir
Background
This is a vidimus, a certified copy in which trustworthy men declare that they have seen the original letter with undamaged seals and copied it word for word. Such copies were made so that the content could be used in several places, or to secure it if the original was lost. Erling Vidkunsson was drottsete, regent, for King Magnus Eriksson from 1323 to 1332. Svein Sigurdsson gives as reasons for the gift his friendship with Erling and the kindness he met with from Erling's mother, Lady Gyrid, when he was a child. This suggests that he had grown up in or near the Bjarkøy family, but the letter does not say so. Månedsmatsbol was a unit of land based on how much land rent it yielded, and kyrlag means the value of a cow. The tar from Valaberg shows that forest and tar burning were part of the income from the land.
People: Erling Vidkunsson, Gyrid Erlingsdatter