| Gjerd (old norse gerd gjord f.)
In the old norse laws, gjerd meant various contributions imposed on the farmers by the state authority. Many of
these contributions were early replaced by fixed taxes, often with only local influence, and the "gjerd" was still in the 1500's used about such taxes, like "the butter tax" and "gjengjerd". Still as late as 1568 the simple word "gjerd" was used for the levying of provisions for naval people. The various "gjerder" were often paid in kind, but could also be converted to a monetary tax.
The "gjengjerd" was a replacement of the king's "veitsle"-right, meaning his right for maintenance for himself and his men during his travels through the country. Mostly known is the "gjengjerd" levyied in the reign of Christian II, to Bergenhus in 1519/20, and also several times during the following years, and also at "Østlandet" (south-eastern part of Norway) in 1514. From the collecting of the "gjengjerd" at Østlandet there are still kept tax-records, which is an important source to the history of settling in the area.
The tax-records tell us that various groups of farmers were held responsible for the payment of the tax.
The word gjengjerd or gjengjerd-men were also used about the district that should pay a tax to the state authorities.
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