(; plural: ; , , ) is a governmental office or title used in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The position originated in Norway in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, where it was used as a noble title, and the was granted a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

called a '' sýsla'' (plural: ) in which he was responsible for collecting tolls, taxes and fines, upholding the law and military defences. He was also to hold courts of justice and name men to sit on juries. He sometimes also assigned fiefs to a ''

lensmann in modern Norwegian or in Danish and older Norwegian spelling (; ) is a term with several distinct meanings in Nordic history. The Icelandic equivalent was a . Fief-holder The term traditionally referred to a holder of a royal fief in Denmark ...

''. The system was established in the 12th century by

Sverre of Norway Sverre Sigurdsson () (c. 1145/1151 – 9 March 1202) was the king of Norway from 1184 to 1202. Many consider him one of the most important rulers in Norwegian history. He assumed power as the leader of the rebel party known as the Birkebeiner i ...

to help consolidate his power following the Battle of Fimreite. As Norse influence spread, so did the system, reaching into Iceland and the Faroe Islands, as well as

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. Today, a or (often translated into English as 'district commissioner', '

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

', '

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

', or '

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

') handles a variety of governmental responsibilities in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

archipelago in Norway.

Iceland

The office of was established in Iceland when the country submitted to the

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

in 1262–1264 and royal authority was invested in to oversee the island's 12 . Appointed by the King of Norway, it was possible for a single to oversee up to a quarter of the island through representatives stations through his assigned . In 1375 a group of prominent Icelanders declared they would no longer accept non-native , nor royal amendments not sanctioned by the

Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...

. Currently there are nine district commissioners that manage several types of public services in their districts, including collecting taxes outside of the capital area, handling civil marriages, inheritance, child custody and issuing various permits.

Faroe Islands

As in Iceland, the system was brought to the Faroe Islands in the 13th century as the Norwegian king exerted greater influence over the islands. Traditionally, there were six , one for each . Today, are the modern district sheriffs appointed to three-year terms. In line with Danish police reform efforts, as of 1 January 2009, the number of was reduced to four, overseeing three police districts. Initially, the Danish National Police wanted to stop using the term , but it was deemed not possible as the are more than police, performing a range of tasks for the Faroese government, the courts, and the Danish High Commissioner. One of the tasks of the is to decide whether or not a pod of pilot whales that has been spotted should be slaughtered and, if so, into which bay the boats should drive the pod. This is decided together with the , who leads the pilot whale hunt.

Svalbard

In Norway, the term is used for the

Governor of Svalbard The governor of Svalbard () represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen). The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maintains all Norwegian interests in ...

; however, after 1 July 2021, it was replaced by the gender-neutral term as part of Norwegian efforts to ensure that governmental terms are not distinctly masculine or feminine. In English, both and are translated as 'governor'. From 1931 to 1933, the term was also used for the governor of Erik the Red's Land, Norway's claim on eastern

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syslumadur Government agencies of Iceland Law enforcement in Iceland Law enforcement in the Faroe Islands Society of Norway Norwegian noble titles