SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

26 Saga-Book oj the Viking Society
certain area of infield (on Nolsoy very approximately
4 hectares) and rights in one of the two commons, as well
as corresponding obligations.
Thirteen marksof Nolsoy belongtechnically to the Danish
crown.t? being in fact leased at very low rents by socalled
kongsbendur, "king's farmers". Such leases are
inherited by the eldest son of the deceased tenant; so that
in practice, a crown tenancy hardly differs from outright
ownership.v- Indeed, as far as there is any difference, it
is to the advantage of the crown tenant. The remaining
35 marks of Nolsoy are ognarjera, the property of
peasant proprietors. Until 1857, the allodial laws, such
as are still in force in Norway, applied to Faroese land; and
although in that year they were repealed for Faroe, it is
common to hear the proprietors of ognarjoro referred to as
6Oalsbondur. Privately owned land is divided on inheritance
equally between the children of a deceased owner,
with the modern provision that no quantity less than one
complete gylden is legally recognised. Transfers of land
should therefore always be made in a whole number of
gylden, but this law is often evaded by informal
arrangements between the villagers themselves. The
long-term tendency, as may easily be foreseen, is for the
ognarjoro to become subdivided into small and inconvenient
fragments, especially as there is a long-standing
Faroese prejudice against selling one's land. On Nolsoy
in 1957 only the crown tenants could be considered as
serious farmers.
It is impossible to consider infield apart from outfield, or
outfield apart from infield. One mark, or one gylden of
land, means so much infield plus so much share in the
10 By a law of 22 March 1938 administration of the crown lands of Faroe
passed into the hands of an agricultural board, two of the three members of
which are chosen by the Legting. The position of a crown tenant in relation
to his fellow-villagers has not changed, however, and he is still called
kongsb6ndi. Ownership rights in these lands are now vested in the Faroese
home-rule government.
11 Anton Degn, Fareske kongsbende« I584-I884 (1945), gives an account of
the obligations of the Faroese crown tenant. The introduction is especially
Valuable.