Alv Knutsson witnesses a gift at Jerstad
DN 3/901 · 7 June 1473 · Hofsvangen
What the letter says
Sir Alv Knutsson, the squire Lasse Mus and three members of the lawcourt on Toten testify that on 7 June 1473 at Hofsvangen they saw Torstein Gunnarsson and Erling Gunnarsson shake hands. Torstein accepted the gift that Gunnar Torsteinsson had given his son Erling, five bol in Mellomgården at Jerstad in Lena. With that the division of the inheritance was concluded, and Erling was to keep the farm.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all who see or hear this letter we, Alv Knutsson, knight, Lasse Mus, squire, and Gudbrand Ellingsson, Villam Syversson and Håkon Torsteinsson, members of the lawcourt on Toten, make known with this open letter: We were at Hofsvangen on Toten on the Monday after Whitsunday in the year of our Lord 1473 (7 June). There we saw and heard the handshake and the words between Torstein Gunnarsson on the one side and Erling Gunnarsson on the other side. They amounted to this: Torstein Gunnarsson consented to the letter and the gift that Gunnar Torsteinsson gave his son Erling as his property for ever, that is, five hefzsællær bol [uncertain interpretation] in Mellomgården at Jerstad, which lies in Lena. With that they were finished with the division of the inheritance, and this was to stand unbroken. Erling shall keep the farm freely. For further certainty about this we hang our seals under this letter, which was written and made on Toten on the day and in the year named above.
Original text (excerpt)
Alle men som thetta breff se heller høra kungøre wi Alf K[nuts]son riddare Lasse Mus aff wapn Gudbrand Ellingson Villam Sywerdson [oc Hak]an Torstenson lagrettis men a Thothen med tesse vpna breffue ath wi ware [a H]offz vangen a Thothen manedagin nesth eptir huitesynnedagin anno domini m cd lxx 3. sagum ok hørdom a handarband ok ordh teyra, aff ene halffuone Torsten Gunnarson en a andra haluone, Ellingin Gunnarson sa lywdende ath Torsten Gunnarson samtykte thet breff ok gaffua, som ær v. hefzsæ
Background
The letter concerns an ordinary farming family on Toten and has nothing to do with the Giske estate. It was probably included because Alv Knutsson of Tre Rosor, who owned Giske, stands first among the witnesses. Alv had land and connections across large parts of eastern Norway, and a knight as witness gave the letter extra weight. The case shows how a father could give a son part of the land, but the other heirs had to consent for the gift to stand under the law. A skifte was the division of an inheritance among the heirs. What kind of land measure the word translated as «bol» refers to is uncertain in the original text.
People: Alv Knutsson