II. The farm territories

Abstract

The enquiries into the organization of farm territories in Norway must be based partly upon the study of old records, and partly upon field work. As long as the breach with the past is still a fairly recent occurrence, the field investigations will produce more than simply a record of the visible traces of the past. Of course, this record itself plays a very important part. Features such as characteristic boundary marks, various traces and relics found within the old multiple abode (tun), of holdings which have moved outside it, former balks that are still visible—these are all important pieces in the jigsaw puzzle which must be completed in order to obtain a picture of the ancient organization of the farm territory. But in addition to this, we can make use of the memories of those of the farming population who grew up in earlier times and took part in the daily work and who know of old traditions which were handed down to them by still earlier generations. The younger generations worked alongside the older and carried on the inheritance from them. This is clearly shown in the story about the man who took his young son along to show him the boundaries of the farm. Every time they reached an important marking on the boundary the father gave his son a box on the ear so that the spot should stand out in his memory. One of the Institute's most reliable informants, an old schoolmaster from Sunnmöre, can account for traditions as far back as to the middle of the eighteenth century; he usually confirms his tales with such expressions as: ‘The old man said so, and he got it from grandma’.