Erling summons Sigurd Fyrd over leidang and land
DN 2/279 · 11 March 1347 · Giske
What the letter says
Erling Vidkunsson, sysselmann on Sunnmøre, writes from Giske on 11 March 1347 to Sigurd Fyrd. He had earlier had Gunnar Halldorsson summon Sigurd to Giske over the leidang and the leidang fine, which Sigurd has not paid for two years. Sigurd still did not appear. Now Erling summons him with seven nights' notice to Veøy in Romsdal, both for the unpaid leidang and for the land he has long held wrongfully from Ragna Jonsdatter, Erling's kinswoman. Erling put his seal to the letter.
The letter in modern English
I, Erling Vidkunsson, sysselmann on Sunnmøre, greet you, Sigurd Fyrd, and make known that I had Gunnar Halldorsson summon you with a two nights' summons from your home to Giske, last time my Elin was at Øyraskog [uncertain interpretation], for the leidang and the leidang fine [the penalty for unpaid leidang] which you have not paid now for two years. And then you would not come when you were summoned. Therefore I now summon you by this letter of mine with a seven nights' summons, from the day you have seen or heard this letter of mine, to Veøy in Romsdal, both for the unpaid leidang and the leidang fine, and for the land that you have long held wrongfully from Ragna Jonsdatter, my kinswoman. In witness of the truth I set my seal to this letter, which was made at Giske on the eve of St Gregory's day in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of my worthy lord Magnus, by God's grace king of Norway, Sweden and Scania (11 March 1347).
Original text
Ek Erlingr Vidkunnar son sysslu madr aa Sundmœre hœyllsar þer Siughurder fyrder ok kunngerer at ek leet Gunnar Halldorsson stemfna þer tueggia natta stemfno heiman fra þin till Gidzska nu nest er Elin min var a Œyra skoghe firir leidangrin ok leidangrs fallit er þu hefuir vlokit nu tuau aar ok þa villde þu ekki fara er þer var stemft.
Background
Erling Vidkunsson was now about 55 and lived at Giske as sysselmann (royal district officer) on Sunnmøre. The leidang (naval levy) was originally the duty to provide ships and crews for the king's fleet, but by the fourteenth century it had become a fixed tax, and the leidang fine was the penalty for not paying. A summons was a call to a court meeting, and the time limit was counted in nights, here seven nights. Veøy was an old church and trading site in Romsdal, and the place suggests that Sigurd lived there. The DN summary says the land was the farm Skreim, while the text of the letter does not name it. The words about «my Elin» being at Øyraskog are unclear, and it is uncertain whether they refer to Erling's wife Elin.
People: Erling Vidkunsson, Elin Toresdatter