Ortnamnselementet rengård: Utbredning och tolkning

English: The placename element rengård: distribution and interpretation.

Abstract

Toponyms containing the element rengård can be found in approximately 80 places in northern Sweden, mainly along the coast. The literal understanding of the word presents no difficulties, since ren means reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) and gård some kind of enclosure or fence. But what kind of reindeer – wild or domesticated? And for what purpose was the device created?

In this paper, three different hypotheses are identified in published literature, analysed using GIS methods and discussed in relation to historical sources. The first hypothesis, that rengård refers to pit systems combined with fences installed for hunting wild reindeer, is rejected because of the lack of correlation with registered hunting pits. The second hypothesis, that rengård refers to corrals for domesticated reindeer, is considered to be an unlikely explanation for toponyms in the coastland, i.e. the majority, due to the lack of examples in historical sources. The third hypothesis, that rengård refers to fences used by coastland farmers to hunt wild reindeer with snares, spears or arrows, is supported by both substantial correspondence between the toponyms and the earliest known farming villages, and historical sources. The author concludes that in most cases, the rengård toponyms designate locations where fences were built by coastland farmers to hunt wild reindeer before the early 18th century.