Odelsrett, the rights of the Oldest

Odelsrett, or right to inherit the farm is interesting. The oldest son, the "odelsgutt" inherited the farm. An oldest son could leave, then return to take the farm from his sibling. The younger sons did not inherit the farm so they sought an "odelsjente", the oldest daughter in the family without a son. If they could not find an odelsjente, they had few options but to become a husmann. Husmann were generally poor but many were quite wealthy because they had a trade off the farm. The term "husmannplass" is actually derived from real estate property taxes while the farms were "skyldsatt" i.e., assessed for tax purposes. Thus, a husmann did not pay any real estate property taxes. Taxes were often in terms of products produced on the farm. In the mountain areas, this was often butter. In some cases it was grain, calfskins, goatskins, or fish. You could tell the wealth of one gard versus another by taxes paid which was a better measure than acres owned.