Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mythological Figures: Thor Odinson (5E)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7750399" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>There are no priests in Landnámabók, the ‘Book of Land Acquisitions’, sometimes called the Book of Settlements.</p><p></p><p>This book records accounts of families who settled Iceland. In various vignettes, it refers to the distinctive Viking Era Icelandic political system.</p><p></p><p>There were thirty six local parliaments. Later thirty nine. The Norse term for a ‘parliament’ is a Þing. Generally, each parliament comprises the people of a particular farming community. They gather in an open air sacred space. Everyone shows up, and they elect for themselves an executive leader who they call a goði. Norwegians call this indigenous government leader a jarl. In scale the goði is more like a local ‘mayor’, but in function more like a ‘president’, being an elected official who is responsible for the administration of the community as well as being the commander in chief of local warriors.</p><p></p><p>In general, the goði tends to get reelected, even their children become the goði of the next generation. A protestor is more likely to formally join up with a different nearby Þing, where an other person is the goði. Sometimes two goði might co-rule over a Þing.</p><p></p><p>The local parliament also elects a judge (usually chosen by the goði) who heads the judicial system, called the lǫgsǫgumaður, the ‘law sayer’. The lawsayer clarifies the law and adjudicates local family disputes.</p><p></p><p>In the Icelandic texts, including Landnámabók, the title goði always refers to this political leader. Sometimes goði gets translated into English as ‘chieftain’, noting the political role and clout, but missing the connotation parliamentary consent.</p><p></p><p>When referring to one of these many local goðar, the tradition is to refer one as, ‘So-and-so goði’. (In the US we say ‘President So-and-so’, but the Norse say, ‘So-and-so president’.)</p><p></p><p>Examples of these political leaders mentioned by name include: Grímkell goði, Sturla goði, Þormóður goði, Arnkell goði, Snorri goði, etcetera.</p><p></p><p>Women voted in these parliaments, and sometimes ran for political office. Two women served as the goði of their local parliaments. When Landnámabók mentions them by name, it uses the feminine form of title goði, namely gyðja.</p><p></p><p>Two women mentioned by name as ‘chieftains’, political leaders, are: Þuríð gyðja, Þorlaug gyðja.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Note, elsewhere, there are individual women whose personal name is Gyðja. For example, there is a female skald who has this name. In these cases, some women are named Gyðja ‘helpful nature spirit’, in the same way that some men are named Alfr ‘elf’.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Aboriginal Norse animism lacks the concept of a priesthood. There are no priests. In Norse texts, every occurrence of gyðja either means the animistic ‘helpful nature spirit’ (the feminine form of goð), or it means the political ‘chieftain’ of the parliament (the same-sounding feminine form of the title goði).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 7750399, member: 58172"] There are no priests in Landnámabók, the ‘Book of Land Acquisitions’, sometimes called the Book of Settlements. This book records accounts of families who settled Iceland. In various vignettes, it refers to the distinctive Viking Era Icelandic political system. There were thirty six local parliaments. Later thirty nine. The Norse term for a ‘parliament’ is a Þing. Generally, each parliament comprises the people of a particular farming community. They gather in an open air sacred space. Everyone shows up, and they elect for themselves an executive leader who they call a goði. Norwegians call this indigenous government leader a jarl. In scale the goði is more like a local ‘mayor’, but in function more like a ‘president’, being an elected official who is responsible for the administration of the community as well as being the commander in chief of local warriors. In general, the goði tends to get reelected, even their children become the goði of the next generation. A protestor is more likely to formally join up with a different nearby Þing, where an other person is the goði. Sometimes two goði might co-rule over a Þing. The local parliament also elects a judge (usually chosen by the goði) who heads the judicial system, called the lǫgsǫgumaður, the ‘law sayer’. The lawsayer clarifies the law and adjudicates local family disputes. In the Icelandic texts, including Landnámabók, the title goði always refers to this political leader. Sometimes goði gets translated into English as ‘chieftain’, noting the political role and clout, but missing the connotation parliamentary consent. When referring to one of these many local goðar, the tradition is to refer one as, ‘So-and-so goði’. (In the US we say ‘President So-and-so’, but the Norse say, ‘So-and-so president’.) Examples of these political leaders mentioned by name include: Grímkell goði, Sturla goði, Þormóður goði, Arnkell goði, Snorri goði, etcetera. Women voted in these parliaments, and sometimes ran for political office. Two women served as the goði of their local parliaments. When Landnámabók mentions them by name, it uses the feminine form of title goði, namely gyðja. Two women mentioned by name as ‘chieftains’, political leaders, are: Þuríð gyðja, Þorlaug gyðja. Note, elsewhere, there are individual women whose personal name is Gyðja. For example, there is a female skald who has this name. In these cases, some women are named Gyðja ‘helpful nature spirit’, in the same way that some men are named Alfr ‘elf’. Aboriginal Norse animism lacks the concept of a priesthood. There are no priests. In Norse texts, every occurrence of gyðja either means the animistic ‘helpful nature spirit’ (the feminine form of goð), or it means the political ‘chieftain’ of the parliament (the same-sounding feminine form of the title goði). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mythological Figures: Thor Odinson (5E)
Top