væzla (OSw) veizla (ON) noun

This is derived from the verb veta (OSw)/veita (ON) in the sense ‘give, grant, provide’. It was an old tradition to provide travellers with board and lodging, and, as indicated by the more specialized meaning of the verb (‘serve, treat’), væzla came also to signify a feast. In addition væzla was the board and lodging provided by the tenant when the landowner (or his representative) came to visit his lands.

With the development of a royal and ecclesiastical administration the væzla became closely tied to the concept of billeting, i.e. the provision of board and lodging to the king, the bishop and royal officials on their journeys through the country. Negligence in providing such hospitality was called væzlufal (q.v.) (OSw HL Kgb). The duty of billeting was later replaced by a regular tax.

Esp. in ONorw sources veizla was also a feudal concept, understood as ‘land given as a grant’, namely by the king to some of his highly trusted men, who became ármenn (see ármaðr) or lendir menn (see lænder). In return these men were obliged to serve the king as officers in the bodyguard and in the army, and to act on his behalf in their local community, e.g. as prosecutors. Such granted land was also called veizlujörð (q.v.).

billeting ONorw FrL KrbA 8
OSw HL Kgb
feast ONorw MLL Mah 27
help OIce Grg Vís 86
hospitality ONorw EidsL 34.3 40.1
ONorw MLL Lvb 1, 8 Rb 1
land held as a grant ONorw GuL Mhb, Leb Refs:

Brink 2013a, 441; KLNM s.v.v. bygsel, embedsindtægter, gästning, kungsgård, veitsle