Sale of land at Synes on Vigra
DN 1/724 · 7 February 1429 · Borgund
What the letter says
Five men make known that they witnessed the handshake when Sæmund Kolbeinsson sold five and a half månedsmatsbol (a land-rent unit) in Synes in St Mary's Church parish on Vigra to Jon Bårdsson. The price was 17 marks bøggild. Sæmund confirmed that he had received the full payment. The letter was written in Aslaksgården in Borgund on 7 February 1429.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all men who see or hear this letter, Olav Pedersson, Omund Bårdsson, Peder Torsteinsson, Pål Klemetsson and Finn Olavsson send God's greeting and their own. We make known that we were present and saw and heard the handshake between Jon Bårdsson and Sæmund Kolbeinsson. By this handshake it was agreed that Sæmund sold to Jon five and a half månedsmatsbol (land that yields a month's food in annual land rent) in Synes [Sydnes], which lies in St Mary's Church parish on Vigra in the northern part of Sunnmøre, for 17 marks bøggild (payment in good, full-value silver). He sold the land from himself and his heirs and all descendants and over to Jon and his heirs and descendants, to own for ever, fully free as odal and warranted against every man. Sæmund also acknowledged that he had received the first penny and the last and all in between that were agreed in their purchase for the said land, and that they were reconciled and fully reconciled about the purchase price for the land. For further certainty and truth of this Sæmund set his seal together with our seals on this letter, made in Aslaksgården in Borgund on the first Monday in Lent (7 February) in the year of our Lord 1429.
Original text (excerpt)
Ollom monnom sem þetha bref se ellr heyra sendha Olaf Pedhrs son Omundhr Bardha son Pedhr Þorsteins son ok Pal Clemenzson ok Finr Olafs son q. g. ok sina kvnnikth gerandhe ath wi warom j hia sagom ok heyrdhom þeira handha bandh Jons Bardha sonar ok Sæ- mwndhar Kolbeins sonar. skildezth þath wndher þeira handha bandh ath fyrnefndhr Sæmwndhr sellde adrnefndhom Jone half .vi. mamata leigho jardhar j Synese som lighr j Mariw kirkiu sokn i Wighr j nyrdhra hlwtanom a Sunmære for .xvii. merkr bwgilldha
Background
The letter names no one from the Giske family, and the buyer and seller appear to be ordinary landowners in Sunnmøre. It was probably included in the search because Vigra lies right next to Giske and because it was written in Borgund, the trading town (kaupang) near present-day Ålesund. A månedsmatsbol is land that yields a month's food in annual land rent, that is the rent the tenant farmer paid. Bøggild means payment in full-value silver. The letter is a letter of witness to a purchase of land, and it was written three years after Sigurd Jonsson won Giske in the inheritance dispute. It gives a picture of the land trade among the farmers on the islands around Giske, and of Borgund as a place where such agreements were written down.