[Regia-NA] Re: [Regia-NA] goði

[Hrolf Douglasson]

Not easy to tell. Because we are nowadays used to thinking in terms of
Organised Religion (even the neo-pagans have their societies etc, I know
'cos I was in one or two), the apparent situation in mainland Scandinavia is
difficult to get one's head around. Plus of course, nothing was <reliably>
written down (Adam of Bremen's descriptions of Uppsala don't count, because
he never went there to look!), so it is guesswork. Icelandic referrals to
gothar (plural of gothi, excuse the spelling, but I've lost the character on
the keyboard again) are likewise suspect, since they date as a rule to
around the thirteenth century-when Adam was writing, strangely.
    The position seems to have been that religion was local,
household-centric and thus, to a missionary's eyes, disorganised and of no
real account. I suspect that the same was true in the early days of
Icelandic settlement, too. Rich and powerful men in any given area would, as
part of maintaining that status, have thrown their houses open for feasts
and celebrations, and probably took the opportunity to promote their own
favoured dieties. This may explain why, throughout Scandinavia and nortthern
England, one finds clusters of similar god-names in place-names. Norway has
a lot of Thors, Denmark is good for Odins (or variations thereon), and
Cumbria (UK) has a fine crop of Ullr's, not duplicated anywhere else.
    This extension of localised influence into the religious areas of life
(to get back on track again) is probably the origin of the later concepts of
what a gothi was. Hazel is quite correct in that a number of them continued
their influence into the Christian era in Iceland, thereby suggesting that
the religious side of things was only one minor area of the greater role,
and that their secular activities (and, indeed their religious duties) went
on largely unchanged by the adoption of the new doctrine.
    Not an exact answer to your question I know, but hard information is
scarce. It is easier to pick up impressions from further reading than to get
an answer!
    You might want to try "The Vikings and their origins" by David M. Wilson
(Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-500-27542-4), or "The Viking Achievement" by
Foote and Wilson (no details here, it's out on loan). Johannes Brondsted,
Else Rosedahl and Gwyn Jones all go into it in a greater or lesser degree in
their various books; "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe" by Hilda
Ellis-Davidson (Pelican, ISBN 0-14-020670-1) is getting old, but looks at
the makeup and implementation of the indigienous faith.

    Good Hunting,

    Hrolf (Gothi According To Some-another story)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Tarplee" <jacknotname@yahoo.com>
To: <list-regia-na@lig.net>
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 11:27 PM
Subject: [Regia-NA] goði


> Forgiveme if I'm wrong here; from whay I've read the
> term goði is an exclusively icelandic term refuring to
> a sort of priest/cheiftain overseeing the both the
> religious and secular needs of an area. Of course a
> goði's infulance gradually shifted to the wholy
> secular after the conversion to christainity.
>
> I was wondering if anyone knows weather there was an
> equivalent social position in viking scandinavia?
>
> Thanks folks
>
> Matt
>
> =====
>
>
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