bolagh (OSw) noun

This word is used in several different ways, all closely related. At the simplest level, it means a partnership, but it can also simply mean a common household, or by transference to the property shared in the partnership or household. The bolaghsmaþer (q.v.) was someone who owned a part of the farm as a partner, often for a stipulated period, as opposed to a bryti (q.v.) who was a paid member of staff. The word carries the same meanings as the ODan word fælagh (q.v.), which also appears in YVgL, and the ON félag. It is worth noting that in VmL the church and parishioners are involved in the setting up of a partnership, whereas in UL, of which in many respects VmL is a close copy, no mention is made of the church and the semi-official term fastar (q.v.) is used of the witnesses to the formation of a partnership.

There is an ON equivalent (búlag), occurring in legal texts not excerpted for the current work, defined as ‘household partnership (on a farm), joint householding’ or ‘agreed tariff for agricultural produce and services’. An apparently synonymous (and even less common) term is búalag. There is also a relatively obscure late medieval legal text called búalög.

aggregated property OSw HL Äb
common household OSw UL Äb
OSw VmL Äb
partnership OSw DL Bb
OSw HL Jb
OSw KrL Jb Tb
OSw MEL Jb Tb
OSw SdmL Jb
OSw UL Äb, Jb
OSw VmL Äb, Jb Refs:

KLNM, s.v. félag; Schlyter 1877, s.v.v. bolagh, fælagh