Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1961, Page 40

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Løgting og gildi
(the day before St. Botulph's Day), and the proceedings were to last
from 6 a. m. to 3 p. m. These provisions are found in the lawbook, or
code, of the Norwegian king Magnus the Lawmender, the Gulathing
edition (A. D. 1274), which was clearly the lawbook of the Faroe Islands.
In a new edition of this code, given in Danish A. D. 1604 by Christian
IV, king of Denmark and Norway, the sessions were ordered to be
held from 6 a. m. to noon.
To explain why the Faroese Lawthing custom did not conform with
the general law, it is necessary to consider the evidence of an old
religious guild in the Faroe Islands. The sessions of the Lawthing were
held in the open air or, weather not permitting, in a house called The
Guild Hall, until this house was destroyed by fire in 1672. When the
Lawthing had ended its proceedings, a feast was held in this hall, con-
ducted by a person called the Alderman (not by the president of the
Lawthing). The alderman greeted those present as guild brethren and
guild sisters, following ancient guild rites
It is suggested that there must have been a midiaeval guild in the
Faroe Islands dedicated to St. Olav and meeting during the week from
July 29th (Olavsvaka, Olavi regis) to August 5th (Octava Olavi). The
minor 01av‘s mass (Translatio Olavi) was on August 3rd. Reference is
made to the mediaeval rules of an Olav's Guild in Hordaland, Norway.
The Olav's Guild in the Faroe Islands must have been older than
the lawbook of 1274. It must have been found expedient to convene
the Lawthing in the same week as the Guild. The divine service every
morning must originally have been part of the Guild's proceedings.