Várting

Várting is Faroese , meaning spring - Thing . It is also called heimating (Heim-Thing). From the Viking Age on the Faroe Islands until 1896, these were local things in every Sýsla (district). At least since the Reformation in the Faroe Islands , they were given permanent locations.

They represented the lower jurisdiction , while the Løgting was the highest court.

It is unclear how many local thing sites existed initially, but later there were six, according to the Sysseln:

• on Vágar near Miðvágur (á Ryggi)
• on Streymoy near Kollafjørður (við Sjógv)
• on Eysturoy near Selatrað
• on the northern islands in Vágur (now Klaksvík ) on Borðoy
• on Sandoy in Sandur (í Trøðum)
• on Suðuroy in Øravík ( 1812 - 1872 in Hvalba ).

In addition to this spring thing, there was sometimes an autumn thing. Things were held in the order listed above, with Miðvágur starting every March 1st . The convocation of such a thing went from village to village, was received with great interest by the residents according to old custom, and was called Tingakrossur (cf. the magazine of the same name in the 20th century).

Originally all free men of a Ting district gathered for the Várting itself. From the legal reform of the Norwegian king Magnus Lógbøtari of 1274 it was regulated that the Løgmaður or the local Sýslumaður (Sysselmann) led the presidency. The six Vártings were each represented by six appointed Løgrættumenn in central Løgting, which at that time only met once a year for Ólavsøka , later once a month. The Løgrættumenn had to swear an oath that they would judge according to God's will and their own conscience. The annual meeting of the Løgting at Ólavsøka meant that the Vártings had to be held between March and July, especially since the Løgting was their appeal body.

In the 16th century the local Sysselman lost the presidency, which now passed to the Fúti (Landvoigt). However, the Sysselmanns could continue to preside over the Vártings on behalf of the Landvoigt.