A fresh ling for Knut Alvsson
SDHK 34331 (DN 22/10) · 23. januar 1501 · Linköping
What the letter says
Hemming Gad writes from Linköping to Svante Nilsson that the king is rumoured to be in Jönköping «denna natt» (this night) and will then go on to Vadstena, but he does not know whether it is true. He sends a fresh ling he has received from good friends in Västergötland, and asks Svante to share it with Sir Knut Alvsson and «våra bästa vänner men ej med vår husbonde» (our best friends, but not with our master). He also asks Svante «sighie henne wor hand op oc frij epter thenne dag». Finally he wants to know when the bearer of the letter arrived.
Background
Hemming Gad was a Swedish bishop and politician and one of the leaders of the Sture party. The letter was written half a year before the open break with King Hans, and it shows that Knut Alvsson, lord of Giske, already then belonged to the inner circle around Svante Nilsson. «Our master» is probably the king. The ling, a large fish of the cod family, was a gift between friends in midwinter and says something about the tone between them. SDHK does not say what the last phrase means, so it is left in the original language.
People: Knut Alvsson