Vonde Åsmund Rygnestad

Valle gards- og ættesoge B6 side 339-346

Mo Bygdebok B1 side 634

Åsmund var lensmann,og han var kyrkjeverje og Lagrettmann.Han var og utsending til Kristian 1Vdå han varthylla til konge i Oslo i 1591.Skal ikkje take med meir om han her,då der er mange utskrift om denne mannen .Det var han som bygde Rygnestadloftet, no museum i Oveinang, Valle. Åsmund er nemnd i åra 1582 og 94. Åsmund eide heile Trydal, Storstein, Systog og der inne. De tre sistnevnte overlot han til sine sønner.

He was born in 1545 at Rygnestad and died in 1593. There are many legends about Åsmund who was often called Vonde, meaning difficult, bad, evil. There is a museum (part of the Setesdal museum called Rygenestadtunet located a few miles south of Valle that contains a number of souveneirs from Åsmund. A distinquishing storehouse (loft) on the museum farm was built by this legendary hero.

The legend reports that he was abroad—down in Europe—as a soldier in a foreign war before he was married. Again, later in life he left the country for a couple of years.

Åsmund and his wife Jorunn Eivindsdatter Nomeland had 9 children including our ancestor Svein. He was a lensmann (sherrif), a church warden, and a lagrettemann (juror). He was also a representative to Oslo when King Kristian IV was acclaimed King there in 1591.

There is much documentation through subpoena during his life including a dispute with a priest and another dispute involving one of his husmann (tenant famer) involving the sale of a horse. At one time he was shot at and called a robber.

As lensmann he had the task of collecting taxes from the farmers in the district. He was required to give the money to the Danish Government because Norway was in Union with Denmark. He contended that the taxes were too high and would not collect them. When the Danish came to collect, legend has it that Åsmund decided to escape and leave the country. There is also in the house at the museum a trap door that legend says he used as a hiding place from the Danish. He arrived first in Holland and then went on to Spain where he worked at the royal household. He was away for a long period during 1591-1592.

From the items at the museum we can trace his foreign travels. Items include various Spanish equipment for war, a Morrish wood saddle, El Greco style paintings, picture of Spanish and English royalty, and Dutch paintings. During the time he was in Spain there was a war with the Moors in North Africa and it is possible that Åsmund took many of these items as spoils of war. There is also an Austrian war banner of the Hapsburg period, proof that he had a central role during the religious wars on the continent in the years around 1565-1575.