CHAPTER XXXlt. 



THE LAND. 



Division of the land Supposed origin of the division The odal How land 

 could become odal Redemption of the odal Laws in regard to redemp- 

 tion Purchase of land and closing of the bargain Existence of lease- 

 holds Commons Kights of common Laws regulating commons. 



IN old Sweden and Norway, and no doubt all over the 

 North, the land was divided into Herad and Fylki. In 

 Sweden there were small and large Herad ; in Norway there 

 were both Herad and Fylki, the latter probably corresponding 

 to the larger Herad in Sweden. 



We are unable to find how and when such division of land 

 began to take place among the people : that a sudden emigra- 

 tion burst upon the country we have no proof whatever. 



The word her (" host ") implies a certain number of people 

 or families coming together for mutual protection or otherwise, 

 and the whole was called host. These either took by force or 

 settled peacefully upon certain tracts of land, which were then 

 called Herad, probably on account of being the land of the her. 

 In the course of time perhaps for mutual protection, or for 

 some other reason unknown to us those Herad or Fylki, 

 though entirely independent of each other in their internal 

 affairs, were united together, and were called thjod, or veldi, which 

 means a nation made up of different Fylki and Herad. So the 

 land of the Swedes was called Svi-thjod, or Svia- veldi: and that 

 of the Danes and Norwegians, Dana- veldi and Noregs- veldi. 



A man who settled upon a Herad without lawful right could 

 be summarily ousted without resorting to legal remedies. 



Thormod and Thorgeir made themselves obnoxious to the 

 people of the neighbourhood by their wild habits. Those who 

 thought themselves wronged by them went to Vermund (chief 

 of the Herad), and laid their complaints before him. Vermund 



