Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1999, Blaðsíða 142
146
ON THE OLDEST TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF THE FAEROEISLANDS
In both cases, tradition explains it as the
“man-fall-valley”. Legend relates that a
pitched battle was fought in this valley be-
tween the forces from the northem region
and the southem region of the Faeroes
(Hammershaimb, 1852: 170). Tradition
says that the grass in the valley grows red
because of the bloodshed. Personally, I
have often looked for this red grass, but
have never seen anything unusual. In spots,
species of Juncus and Carex take on a red-
dish colour when touched by frost in win-
ter. If the legend is tme, there was a violent
confrontation just in the vicinity of the
boundary river, Skeiðsá. Jakobsen (1901:
69) states, however, that »the ending of the
legend about The Battle in Mannafelsdali is
a foreign myth that arrived in the Faeroes
later and merged into the legend of Bishop
Erlend.” Even if the legend is not tme, it is
suggestive that tradition located it in this
special area. The origin of the place-name,
Mannafelsdalur, therefore, must be sought
elsewhere. A mountain or fell could be a
solution, but there is no such fell in the area.
I suggest a daring hypothesis, open for
discussion and refutation. This place-name
could be of the type where Celtic and Norse
elements are combined. Known examples
from the Faeroes are, e.g. Korkadalur:
coirc- meaning “oats”; Papurshálsur: pap-
meaning “priest” or “Christian Irishman”;
Ærgisbrekka: airgh- meaning a “mountain
pasture”. Mannafal- could be derived from
Magh-na-fal (or bhfal) that Joyce (1913:
216) interprets as “the plain by the wall”.
Now, wall does not necessarily mean the
Berlin Wall, as Joyce translates it as hedge,
inotherpassages. In other words: theplain
by the fence, the dyke or perhaps just the
boundary. There is, as already mentioned,
an important boundary in the area. There is
a boundary river, and, furthermore, there
are the impressive Ivarssteinar that perhaps
can be seen a portal on the boundary. The
history about a battle with a large “man
fall” does not seem to hold, so the Man-
nafelsdalur must be explained in some oth-
er way. Perhaps, the “plain by the bound-
ary”?
Sýslur and the Clerical Divisions
The largest administrative units that are
known from the earliest medieval docu-
ments and later are the districts called
sýslur, sing. sýsla. The designation is also
known from Denmark, Norway and Ice-
land. Each sýsla had its sýslumaður that
was the King’s representative in the district.
His job was to collect taxes and tribute from
the King’s tenant farmers (Kongsbóndi).
The sýslumaður further presided over the
Várting, Spring Court, held yearly in each
sýsla, where simple criminal cases were ad-
judged.
After the Reformation, but perhaps long
before, the Faeroes were divided into six
sýslur: Norðoyar, Eysturoy, Streymoy, Vá-
gar, Sandoy and Suðuroy. Thus, there was
no boundary between the northern and
southem part of Streymoy. Winther (1875:
522) says that this happened in the days of
the Norwegian King Olaf Kyrre (AD 1067
- 93). Bjørk (1957, vol 2: 302) states that
the clerical division used this boundary, but
this is assumed to be a post-Reformation
boundary.