Alv Knutsson acquires the farm Lid in Nes
DN 3/857 · 10 May 1462 · Grefsheim
What the letter says
Laurens Paalsson makes known that he has transferred to Alv Knutsson and his wife Magnhild Oddsdatter the purchase and the odal redemption right he had to the farm Lid in Berg parish in Nes in Hedmarken. The transfer took place at Grefsheim on 9 May 1462, with the lagrettemenn (lay judges) Kolbjørn Herleiksson and Andres Ormsson as witnesses, and the letter was written the day after. The older deed of purchase was attached to this letter.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all men who see or hear this letter, Laurens Paalsson sends God's greeting and his own, and makes known with this my open letter: I have transferred and surrendered to the well-born man Sir Alv Knutsson, knight, and Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter, his wife, the purchase and the odelsløsning (the right to redeem odal land) I had to Lid, which lies in Berg parish in Nes in Hedmarken, with everything that stands in my deed of purchase, to which this letter is attached. It passes from me and my heirs and to Sir Alv and Lady Magnhild and their heirs. In witness of this I ask these good men, Kolbjørn Herleiksson and Andres Ormsson, lagrettemenn in Nes in Hedmarken, to hang their seals together with mine on this letter. They were present when I transferred and with good will surrendered this odal redemption right and this purchase to Sir Alv and Lady Magnhild at Grefsheim on the Sunday after Holy Cross Mass in the spring (3 May). The letter was written at Grefsheim on the Monday after the same Sunday, in the year after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ 1460 and the second year thereafter (1462).
Original text (excerpt)
Ollum monnum þeim sem þetta bref sia eder heyra sendir Laurens Pauelson q. gudis ok sina kunnught gørandis med þesso myno opno brefwe at iek hafwer vnt ok uplatit velbornom manne herra Alfue Knwtzsyni riddara, ok frw Magnilde Odzdotter hans hustru, þet kaup ok odals lausn som iek hafde til Lidh som ligger i Bergxsokn a Nesi aa Heidmark, med allo þwj som wattar i þesso myno kaupa brefwe, som þetta bref er vider festh, fran mik ok mynom erfwinghiom ok til her Alf ok frw Magnilde ok þeirra erfwingh
Background
Alv Knutsson of Tre Rosor later inherited the Giske estate, and in the 1460s he and Magnhild Oddsdatter gathered land around Lake Mjøsa. Grefsheim in Nes was a large farm, and the fact that the transfer took place there suggests that Alv lived there. Odelsløsning (odal redemption) was the right the family had to buy back odal land that had been sold out of the family. Laurens Paalsson had bought or redeemed the farm, and now he transferred both the purchase and the right of redemption to Alv. It was common to attach the older deed of purchase to the new one, so that the new owner received the whole chain of proof for the property. Lagrettemenn were sworn farmers who were witnesses and judges at the thing.
People: Alv Knutsson, Magnhild Oddsdatter