In episode 200 of The Story of Norway, Lucas and Luna explore a tiny but mighty document: the Faroese Sheep Letter of 1298, the oldest surviving legal text in the Faroe Islands. This obscure decree, drafted under Norwegian King Eirik Magnusson, regulated everything from grazing rights to sheep theft—and it reveals a world where livestock were currency, land was shared, and a single animal could spark a feud. Along the way, they trace the islands' Norse settlement, the role of the Løgting (one of Europe's oldest parliaments), and how a sheep-based economy kept the Faroes connected to Norway long after the Viking Age. From the sagas' mention of Grímur Kamban to the modern-day battle over whale hunting, this episode asks a surprising question: what does a law about sheep tell us about power, community, and survival on the edge of the world? Lucas and Luna also touch on the gift of a sheepskin coat, the strange story of the 'King's sheep,' and why the letter still matters in the Faroese Supreme Court today. It's a story about a remote archipelago, but it's really about how humans govern themselves when resources are scarce—and how a medieval text can echo into the present.
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