Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2004, Síða 206

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A VIKING-AGE SHIELING IN SKARÐSVÍK, FUGLOY, FAROE ISLANDS
less, there are two other structures on the
terrace - a house and an enclosure - and
these may be dated to the Viking Age.
The house and enclosure
These two structures are situated on the ter-
race on either side of a small stream that
runs down from the terrain above the es-
carpment (Figs. 3-4). North of the stream,
situated on a low fertile rise, is the ruin of
a collapsed building which is oriented ap-
proximately east-west (Fig. 3)3. It is rea-
sonable to assume that this building was
a turf-built house as hardly any stones are
visible. It is aligned down-slope and the
collapsed remains measure approximately
8 meters in external length and 6 meters in
external width. The bank averages 0.3 m in
height. A gap in the southeast corner of the
building, facing south, represents its origi-
nal entrance.
Approximately twentyfive meters south-
west of the building, and on the other side of
the stream, is a small enclosure located on a
gentle slope. This is curvilinear in plan with
its upper, south-western side being formed
by the escarpment; it measures approxi-
mately 16 m in length and 12 m in width.
The enclosing earthen bank averages 0.3
in in height and 0.50 m in width (Fig. 3).
There is a possible entrance gap between
the escarpment and the south-western end
of the bank.
It was clear to the authors during the sur-
vey that this site had obvious similarities
with those shieling sites elsewhere in the
Faroe Islands, which were planned and ex-
cavated by Dahl and Mahler (Dahl, 1970;
Mahler, 1993). Therefore, despite the ap-
parent non-existence of an ærgi place-name,
the authors felt confídent in interpreting the
site as a shieling.
It was only after the planning of the site
had been completed that it was realised that
ærgi place-names, in fact, were recorded in
the area. Natural locations situated just be-
low the shieling itself are named Eyrgislág,
i.e. the hollow by the shieling, and Kletturin
á Eyrgislág, i.e. the escarpment at the hol-
low by the shieling (Miðalberg, 1996: 24-
25) (Fig. 5). The existence of these place-
names is a very emphatic substantiation of
the proposed interpretation of the site as a
shieling of the Viking Age and/or early me-
dieval period. It is worth noting that these
two Fugloy examples of ærgi place-names
are spelled with an e. This indicates that
Matras’ view that the ærgi place-names
in the southern parts of the Faroe Islands
should be spelled with an e, and those in
the northern parts with an a (Matras, 1957:
52-53), is somewhat simplified.
Skarðsvík in context
The shieling site in Skarðsvík clearly forms
part of the group of sites previously present-
ed by Dahl and Mahler as ærgi or shieling.
As has already been noted above, the Old
Norse term ærgi (argi, ergi, eyrgi) derives
from Old Irish áirge. Kelly notes the histori-
cal evidence for the áirge in Early Medieval
Ireland (400-1100 AD) (Kelly, 1998: 40).
There is also archaeological evidence for
the practise of transhumance in parts of Ire-
land, particularly in the rnore mountainous
regions of the west. In Kerry, for instance,
over a thousand huts have been recorded in
upland locations, above the present limit