The suggestion of Vigfússon in the Oxford _Dictionary_ that
the _gœðingar_ of the earls of Orkney were synonymous with the
_lendir-menn_ of the kings of Norway can be amply proved by the Saga.
One explicit instance gives a clue to the whole mystery, viz., that of
Kúgi, a gœðingr (of earl Páll), whom we find living in Hreppisnes, now
Rapnes, in Westrey. The bú of Rapnes, Swartmeill, and Wasbuster, were,
in 1503, described as _boardlands_ or _borlands_ of the old earldom,
paying no skattr. _Bordland_ or _borland_ is a Scottish loanword,
meaning, “land kept for the board of the laird’s house.”[7] The Oxford
_New English Dictionary_ states that the form _bordland_ is first found
in Bracton, c. 1250, by whom it is wrongly derived from _bord_, a
table, whereas it is from M. Lat. _borda_, a hut, cot, and was applied
to land held in _bordage_ tenure by a _bordar_, a villein of the lowest
rank, a cottier. The Gaelic _bòrlum_, royal castle lands, _borlanachd_,
compulsory labour for a landlord, must also come from the same source.
[7] _Scottish Land-Names_, by sir Herbert Maxwell, bt., 123, Macbain’s
_G. Dict._, s.v. _bòrlum_.
_Boardland_ in Orkney is, therefore, a translation of Old Norse
_veizlu-jörð_, land granted in fief for military service and for the
entertainment of the superior when on circuit. In accordance with the
_Hirðskrá_ of king Magnús Hákonsson, the earl, while prohibited from
disposing of the earldom lands, was permitted to grant earldom lands
_at veita_ or _at veizlu_, _i.e._, in return for military service and
entertainment. It seems certain that the same privilege was allowed by
the older _Hirðskrá_, which is now lost.
To return to Kúgi, he had the _upp-kvöð or útboð_, the calling out
of the levy, of ships and men, _leiðangr_, in Westrey. As he was the
instigator, _upphafsmaðr_, of a secret þing, _laun-þing_, in Westrey,
he probably acted as the representative of the earl in the district
assembly, _héraðs þing_. The localities of the other gœðingar support
the above conclusion.
Þorkell flatr was also in Westrey; Þorsteinn Hávarðarson Gunnason had
the calling out of the levy in Rinansey, and his brother Magnús that
of the adjoining island, Sandey, where there were the boardlands of
Brugh, Halkisnes, Tofts, Lopnes and Tresnes; Valþjófr Ólafsson was
in Stronsey, where there were skatt-fré lands; Sigurðr á Vestnesi in
Rousey, where part of Westnes was old earldom land; and this leads
to the conclusion that the gœðingar also held skatt-land as well as
skatt-fré land of the earldom _at veita_; Jón vængr abode in Háey,
where there is boardland. The earls also gave gifts, _veita gjafir_, to
their friends, the gœðingar.
_Gœði_ means, among other things, profits, emoluments, etc. It seems
certain that the _gœði_ in Caithness, which the king of Scotland
restored to Sveinn Ásleifarson, in 1152, were the _gœði_ of the
earldom, which he had formerly held as gœðingr.
The gœðingar of Orkney (and Shetland?) were thus the feoffees of
the earl of Orkney, from whom they received grants of earldom land,
_veizlu-jörð_, _at veita_ or _at veizlu_, in consideration of military
service and the entertainment of the earl, when on circuit. As the
feoffees of the earl’s _gœði_, or emoluments, they received the name of
_gœðingar_, corresponding to the _lendir-menn_, landed men, of Norway,
who were so-called because they held land or emoluments from the king
for similar duties. A distinction in nomenclature had to be drawn
between the king’s and the earl’s feoffees.
As was to be expected, some of the gœðingar were related to the
earls--remunerative government offices were then, as now, conferred
on the relatives and favourites of the rulers. Their military service
included the _upp-kvöð or útboð_, calling out of the _leiðangr_, levy,
the superintendence of the _vitar_, beacons, etc.
Their civil functions probably included attendance at the local
assembly, _héraðs Þing_, the nomination of delegates, _lögréttumenn_,
to the jury, _lögrétta_, of the law-thing, and generally the
representation of the executive in their respective districts.
As the callers out of the levy of ships and men, the gœðingar were
necessarily located at strategical points, with easy access to the sea
and in close touch with the beacons.
Mr. J. Storer Clouston has suggested with regard to the Orkney
place-name, _Clouston_, older forms, _Cloustath_ and _Clouchstath_,
which probably represent an original *_kló-staðr_, claw-stead, that
_kló_ is “the original proprietor’s name--possibly Hákon kló of the
Saga.”[8]
[8] _Sandey Church History_, by Rev. Alex. Goodfellow, Kirkwall, 1912,
p. 78.
Now Hákon kló, who flourished _circa_ 1150, was a gœðingr, and was
presumably connected with the islands of Sandey and Rinansey, over
which his brothers were gœðingar, and there is no historical or
traditional evidence associating him or his family with Clouston, in
any way.
Dr. Jakob Jakobsen has pointed out that _kló_, f., a claw, denotes, in
Norse place-names, something projecting, curved or pointed. It occurs
in a large number of place-names in Shetland, including an identical
name to that in Orkney, viz., Klusta, *_Kló-staðr_, _-staðir_, a
district situated on a headland between two bights. Now the bú, or
principal farm, of Clouston, from which the whole township takes its
name, is also situated on a ness; and directly opposite to the house is
a claw-formed or curved tongue of land which projects into the Loch of
Stennes, which leaves no possibility of a doubt as to the true origin
of the name.
With regard to nicknames, those which are person forenames in
themselves, such as _brúsi_, buck, and personifications such as
_hlaupandi_, landlouper, etc., are used in place-name formation; while
nicknames which merely point to an eccentricity in personal detail and
are attached to forenames, such as _kló_, finger-nail, _flat-nefr_,
flat nose, _rang-beinn_, _-eygr_, _-muðr_, wry-legged, squint-eyed,
wry-mouth, etc., do not lend themselves for place-names, _quasi_,
“flat-nose’s farm.” But even if such nicknames were detached from
their forenames and applied to places, they would be in the genitive
case, _e.g._, if Hákon kló had been known as kló (of which there is
no evidence) then his farm would have been called *_Klóar-staðr_,
Claw’s farm, not *_kló-staðr_, claw-farm, which could only point to
a claw-formation in the place, such as we actually find in Clouston
itself, and hence the name.
Circumstantial evidence is against Hákon kló, a gœðingr, with the
_uppkvöð_ of the _leiðangr_, levy of ships and men, being landlocked
in one of the very few inland townships in Orkney, situated from two
to three miles from the nearest easy landing place. Earl Haraldr
Maddaðarson in going from Grímsey to Fjörðr (Firth) by way of (Clouston
and) Orkahaugr (Maes-howe), chose Hafnarvágr (Stromness harbour) as his
landing place, and the same choice would be made now.
The nearest coast to Clouston is that of Ireland, which is quite
unsuited for shipping, owing to its exposed position, shallow water,
extensive beach at low water--a place to be avoided by sea-going craft.
Moreover, it has been shown that the gœðingar were in the occupation
of earldom lands, of which there were absolutely not a penn’orth in
Stennes, and next to none in the adjoining inland parish of Hara.
This lack of earldom land in these inland districts, corroborates
the supposition (p. xx), viz., that the earldom estate was formed of
the confiscated estates of the leading víkingar of 872, which would
naturally be situated on the seaboard with easy landing places, which
is a characteristic of the earldom estate; while the two inland and
inaccessible districts of Stennes and Hara are remarkable for their
wealth of Pictish remains and dearth of earldom lands.
The last notice we have of the gœðingar is in 1232, when a shipload
of them, _gœðinga-skip_, were drowned. Possibly the eighteen men of
Haraldr Jónsson, son of earl Jón Haraldsson, who were drowned, along
with him, on June 15th, 1226, were also gœðingar.[9]
[9] Isl. Annals.