«Elle, melle, deg fortelle, skipet går ut i år, rygg i rann, to i spann, snipp, snapp, snute, du er ute!» Om København som utskipningshavn for leidangen i det 11. og 12. århundre

Abstract

«Elle, melle, deg fortelle, skipet går ut i år, rygg i rann, to i spann, snipp, snapp, snute, du er ute!» About Copenhagen as a shipping port for the leidang in the 11th and 12th century. The remains of a large semi-circular rampart in the central parts of Copenhagen is discussed as part of the city’s defence and leiðangr organisation, Norwegian leidang, during the 11th and 12th century. Despite the lack of archaeological evidence, the proposal is based on the site’s geographic location by Øresund and function as a natural shipping port. As part of this hypothesis, the leidang as a military organisation and coast guard arrangement is discussed over time, as well as the proposed link between the leidang as an organisation and the occurrence of snekke-names. After Bishop Absalon’s takeover of the village of Hafn at the end of the 12th century and the construction
of a new castle on Strandholmen, the location continued as an important place for defence and mobilisation. The leidang in its original form gradually came to lose its importance in the following century, due to further structural and defence efforts in what would later become the market town of Copenhagen.