Purchase Agreement for Reykjavík 1615., The Settlement Exhibition Reykjavík 871±2 ~ Reykjavík, Iceland
Purchase agreement for Reykjavík 1615. Three men have confirmed the agreement with hanging seals.
Deed of sale for the estate of Reykjavík, 1615. Three hanging seals confirm the validity of the document.
*The farm of Reykjavík subsistence farming -
The residents of Vík lived by farming - mainly sheep husbandry. Animal bones in old middens excavated by archaeologists indicate that the early settlers had brought cattle, horses, sheep, goats and pigs with them to Iceland. The offshore islands also provided valuable resources, such as eider and seal colonies.
In Iceland, transhumance was practised from the time of the settlement: in summer ewes, and some-times cows, were herded from the farms to shielings in distant pastures, in order to utilise the grassland there and "rest" the home grazing lands. The animals were milked at the shielings, and butter, cheese, etc. was made from the milk for use during the winter. The Reykjavík farmers' shielings were probably at Öskju-hlíð hill (about 3 km from the farms) in early times, and farther away in later centuries. By 1600 Reykjavík farmers are believed to have had shielings below Mosfellsheiði heath (about 20 km north of Reykjavík).
*Reykjavík - Vík
The farm of Reykjavík (or Vík) dates back to the settle-ment of Iceland in the middle ages. On the old farm estate, the remains of some of the oldest homes in Iceland have been excavated between the Lake and the sea.
Around 1600 the farm at Vík was the home of Sheriff Narfi Ormsson and his wife Guðrún Magnúsdóttir. The king wanted to buy part of the land, and Narfi is said to have signed the deed of sale with tears in his eyes. After Narfi's death, royal officials compelled his widow to sell the rest of the Vík estate to the king. It was clearly highly valued, as Guðrún received three good estates in exchange.
Purchase Agreement for Reykjavík 1615., The Settlement Exhibition Reykjavík 871±2 ~ Reykjavík, Iceland
Purchase agreement for Reykjavík 1615. Three men have confirmed the agreement with hanging seals.
Deed of sale for the estate of Reykjavík, 1615. Three hanging seals confirm the validity of the document.
*The farm of Reykjavík subsistence farming -
The residents of Vík lived by farming - mainly sheep husbandry. Animal bones in old middens excavated by archaeologists indicate that the early settlers had brought cattle, horses, sheep, goats and pigs with them to Iceland. The offshore islands also provided valuable resources, such as eider and seal colonies.
In Iceland, transhumance was practised from the time of the settlement: in summer ewes, and some-times cows, were herded from the farms to shielings in distant pastures, in order to utilise the grassland there and "rest" the home grazing lands. The animals were milked at the shielings, and butter, cheese, etc. was made from the milk for use during the winter. The Reykjavík farmers' shielings were probably at Öskju-hlíð hill (about 3 km from the farms) in early times, and farther away in later centuries. By 1600 Reykjavík farmers are believed to have had shielings below Mosfellsheiði heath (about 20 km north of Reykjavík).
*Reykjavík - Vík
The farm of Reykjavík (or Vík) dates back to the settle-ment of Iceland in the middle ages. On the old farm estate, the remains of some of the oldest homes in Iceland have been excavated between the Lake and the sea.
Around 1600 the farm at Vík was the home of Sheriff Narfi Ormsson and his wife Guðrún Magnúsdóttir. The king wanted to buy part of the land, and Narfi is said to have signed the deed of sale with tears in his eyes. After Narfi's death, royal officials compelled his widow to sell the rest of the Vík estate to the king. It was clearly highly valued, as Guðrún received three good estates in exchange.