Alv Knutsson exchanges land on Voss
DN 8/394 · 20 August 1472 · Birke
What the letter says
At Birke on 20 August 1472 Odd Arnbjørnsson declares that he has exchanged land with Sir Alv Knutsson and Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter. Odd gave them 11 månedsmatsbol in Kvåle in Gullfjerdingen in Vang parish on Voss. He received 12 månedsmatsbol in Midttunet in Vinsand in Vikerottingen in the same parish.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
I, Odd Arnbjørnsson [Andbyrson], acknowledge with this my open letter that I have made an exchange of land with the well-born man Sir Alv Knutsson and his wife Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter. I have given them 11 månedsmatsbol (månedsmatsbol: land rent for one month's food) of land in Kvåle in Gullfjerdingen in Vang church parish on Voss, and Sir Alv Knutsson and Lady Magnhild gave me in return 12 månedsmatsbol in Midttunet in Vinsand in Vikerottingen [Viker attungin], which lies in Vang church parish on Voss. Each piece of land shall go with its shares and appurtenances [all the rights and benefits that belong to it] that have lain with it outside the fence and inside, from old to new. In witness of this I ask trustworthy men to hang their seals together with mine under this letter. Their names are Tormod Helgesson, Odd [Andbyœrson] Einarsson [uncertain interpretation] and Niklis Halsteinsson. The letter was written at Birke on the Thursday before St Bartholomew (24 August) in the year 1472 after the birth of God. Endorsement: On the back, in a 16th-century hand: Exchange between Odd Arnbjørnsson and Sir Alv Knutsson.
Original text (excerpt)
Tess kennis iak Od Andbyrson med tesse mino vpna breffue, at iak hawer giord, jorde byte med vælbœrdug man her Alff Knuthson ok hans hustrv frv Magnil Ods dotter, sa at iak hawer fath tœm xi momata boler iorder i Kuale i Gulfyrdungen i Vangs kyrkio sokn pa Vos, oc her Alff Knuthson ok fru Magnil fingo mik ther i moth xii momata bol i Mit tunith i Vindsand j Viker attungin som liger i Vangs kyrkiosokn pa *Vas, oc skal huar iord fyœlgio sin luthum oc lundidum som ligith hawer vtan gards oc innan f
Background
Alv Knutsson of Tre Rosor, later owner of Giske, and Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter owned land in many parts of the country, western Norway among them. An exchange (makeskifte) is a swap of land where both parties give and take, and it was often used to gather property that lay scattered. Månedsmatsbol is a land measure: land that yielded the value of one month's food in land rent, a measure used especially in western Norway. That Alv and Magnhild gave a little more than they received may suggest that Kvåle fitted better into their estate, but the letter does not say so. The division into fjerdinger (quarters) and åttinger (eighths) were old district names within the community.
People: Alv Knutsson, Magnhild Oddsdatter