Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2004, Blaðsíða 203

ÆRGI í SKARÐSVÍK, FUGLOY
201
Kalsoy Kunoy
^ Stóra Dimun
FAROE ISLANDS
Fig. 1. Map of the Faroe lslands.
Computer-graphics: Irene Seiten.
Introduction
In 1956 Christian Matras (1900-1988), the
Faroese linguist, drew attention to a number
of Faroese place-names containing Ihe Old
Norse element ærgi (argi, ergi, eyrgi). He
proposed that this terni derived from Old
Irish áirge, meaning seter or shieling. Fur-
thermore, he pointed out that the long æ of
ærgi is represented by e in place-names of
this type on the island of Suðuroy, and by
a in all ol' the more northerly parts of the
Faroe Islands where it is shortened in front
of the consonant combination rg (Matras,
1957: 52-53). The fact that this linguistic
element was of Old Irish origin indicated
to him that the shieling system introduced
to the Faroe Islands in the Viking Age had
its roots in Gaelic-speaking areas lo the
south - i.e. Ireland, Scotland or the West-
ern Isles.
The archaeological verification that these
place-names were indicators of the loca-
tions of shieling-sites of the Viking Age
came some years later when Sverri Dahl
(1910-1987), then the State Antiquary,
identified and excavated a house structure
in Ergidalur on Suðuroy (Dahl, 1970: 362-
366).
In the 1980s Mahler excavated an exten-
sive shieling site at Argisbrekka, near the
northern tip of Eysturoy. A total of eighteen
houses were investigated, of which seven-
teen could be dated to the Viking Age (800-
1050 AD) and early medieval period (1050-
1200 AD). This work triggered off a major
reassessment ol' the Faroese shielings, in
which Mahler not only compiled and ana-
lysed the available archaeological evidence
but also conducted excavations on a number
of other presumed shieling sites (Mahler,
1989; 1991 a; 1991b; 1993; 1996). Of the
thirteen sites referred to by him five are
from the Norðuroyar, all on Borðoy (Mahl-
er, 1993, table 32.1 and fig. 32.4). Four of
these are from the region around Klaksvfk
while the fifth is from a plateau above the
settlement of Múli on the northern tip of
the island. With Ihe exception of the latter
site, each of these locations has produced
archaeological features to support their in-
terpretation as shieling sites. Thus, by the
time of Mahler’s reassessment, no shielings
had been identified in the outer Norðuroyar,