aker (OSw) aker (ODan) akr (OGu) akr (ON) akær (OSw) noun

This term refers to cultivated land, as opposed to meadow (OSw æng) and wood (OSw skogher). In Denmark, akær also refers to a strip field, corresponding to OSw tegher and ON teigr. The distribution of certain types of place names indicates that Denmark had largely been settled by the Viking Age (ca. 800−1050). During this period, settling was extended, partly through extension of earlier settlements (esp. names in -torp), partly through clearance of wood by the so-called slash-and-burn method. The gradual extension of arable land is reflected in many place names, e.g. -ager, -bod, -rød and -torp (Denmark); -hult, -mala, -ryd, -säter, and -torp (Sweden); -brandr, -rud, and -váll (Norway). In Denmark and Scania, a major improvement in agriculture was achieved by the introduction (probably in the Viking Age) of the heavy wheeled iron plough, which led to a more intense exploitation of the soil. This new equipment made it possible to plough deeper furrows and turn the sod in long strips. These strips gradually became long, gentle ridges, with channels for drainage of surplus water between them. The land was exploited in a wide variety of patterns of crop rotation also known elsewhere in Europe, but the efficient three-field-system was probably not introduced until about 1300. Crops consisted primarily of rye, with barley (important in beer brewing) and oats ranking second, and wheat very rare. The parcelling out of arable land, buying and selling, and the coordination of work (ploughing, sowing, and reaping) led to regulation, measuring, and the use of boundary marks. Measuring was performed with ropes in Denmark or a mælistang ‘measuring pole’ in SdmL and ÖgL.

arable field OSw DL Tjdb
OSw HL Blb
OSw UL Kkb, Mb, Jb, Blb
OSw VmL Kkb, Mb, Jb, Bb
arable land OIce Grg Klþ 2 Þsþ 48, 62 Vís 109a (add. 131) Feþ 166 Lbþ 198 Fjl 222 Hrs 234
OIce Jó Mah 2 Llb 2, 4 Kab 20 Fml 27
OIce Js Mah 11 Lbb 11
OIce KRA 11
ONorw FrL Leb 26
ONorw MLL Lvb 2 Mah 3, Llb
OSw HL Mb, Blb
OSw KrL Bb
OSw MEL Bb
cornfield ONorw FrL LlbA 2 Bvb 5
crop-fields OIce Grg Lbþ 180
cropland OIce Jó Lbb 3
field ODan JyL 3
ODan SkKL 3
ODan SkL 174
OGu GL A 3, 10, 47
ONorw BorgL 14.5
ONorw EidsL 11.5
ONorw GuL Krb, Llb, Olb, Leb
OSw ÄVgL Kkb, Äb, Jb, Kva, Fös, Föb
OSw DL Kkb, Bb, Gb, Tjdb
OSw HL Mb, Jb, Blb
OSw KrL Jb Eb SmbI Add
OSw MEL Jb Bb Eb SmbI
OSw ÖgL Kkb, Eb, Vm, Jb, Bb
OSw SdmL Kkb, Jb, Bb
OSw SmL
OSw UL Rb (E-text only)
OSw YVgL Kkb, Äb, Jb, Kvab, Föb, Utgb
land OFar Seyð 2
strip ODan ESjL 2
ODan JyL 3
ODan SkL 76, 86, 168, 169, 175, 179, 181, 183, 186, 187, 189, 206
ODan VSjL 79, 80
Expressions:

enka aker (OSw)

Land in a village other than the one in which the householder using the land lives.

separate field OSw YVgL Kkb, Äb

Refs:

DMA s.v. Denmark, land and people; Helle 2001, 109−10; KLNM s.v.v. ager, bol, bymark, fornåkrar, græsmarksbrug, jordbruk, odlingssystem, svedjebruk, sædeland, tovangsbrug, trevangsbrug; LexMA s.v. Dänemark. F. Wirtschafts-, Verfassungs- und Sozialgeschichte