værnalagh (OSw) noun

This referred to all the householders, in this case farmers in particular, collectively who owned land in the same enclosure (værn, q.v.). For administrative purposes, it was all the farmers in one collective. It also referred to the collective itself. Each member of the collective individually was a værnalaghi. They had a responsibility for each other and an obligation to help with harvesting if a member was let down by his workers and not to damage his crop by harvesting too early, for instance.

The word værn alone had a multiple of meanings apart from simply a physical enclosure, usually bounded by fencing. It meant, amongst other things, ‘defence’, ‘guardian’, ‘proof’ and ‘protection’.

all the farmers in a collective OSw UL Blb
OSw VmL Bb
freemen of an enclosed area OSw KrL Bb
OSw MEL Bb Refs:

KLNM s.v.v. hegn, tröghbolagh; Schlyter s.v. værnalagh