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Cover Image: Dingieshowe: a thing site on an isthmus, located on the East Mainland, Orkney. Image © Da-
vid Griffiths, Oxford University. Cover design by Thomas Pertlwieser, Department of Prehistory and Historical
Archaeology,University of Vienna.
Debating the Thing in the North I
Selected Papers from Workshops Organized by The Assembly Project
CONTENTS
Debating the Thing in the North I: Introduction 1
Alexandra Sanmark, Sarah Semple, Natascha Mehler, and Frode Iversen
I. DEBATING SOURCES
Concilium and Pagus—Revisiting the Early Germanic Thing System of Northern Europe 5
Frode Iversen
Þing goða—The Mythological Assembly Site 18
Nanna Løkka
Sacred Legal Places in Eddic Poetry—Reflected in Real Life? 28
Irene Riisøy
II. SYSTEMS OF POWER
State Formation, Administrative Areas, and Thing Sites in the Borgarthing Law Province, 42
Southeast Norway
Marie Ødegaard
Tracing Medieval Administrative Systems: Hardanger, Western Norway 64
Halldis Hobæk
Governance at the Anglo-Scandinavian Interface: Hundredal Organization in the Southern 76
Danelaw
John Baker and Stuart Brookes
II. PLACES OF ASSEMBLY
Patterns of Assembly: Norse Thing Sites in Shetland 96
Alexandra Sanmark
What is in a Booth? Material Symbolism at Icelandic Assembly Sites 111
Orri Vésteinsson
Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 5, 2013
2013 Debating the ThJionugr nina lt hoef tNhoer Ntho Ir:t hT Ahetl aAnstsiecmbly Project Special Volume 5
2013 A. SanmaJrko,u rSn. aSl eomf tphlee ,N No.r tMh eAhtllaenr,t iacnd F. Iversen Special Volume 5:1–4
Debating the Thing in the North I: Introduction and Acknowledgments
Alexandra Sanmark1,*, Sarah Semple2, Natascha Mehler3, and Frode Iversen4
The study of lordship and power in medieval power structures of medieval northwest Europe
societies in northwest Europe has seen consider- (A.D. 400–1500). TAP is led by the Museum of
able attention in historical as well as archaeological Cultural History (University of Oslo) and involving
scholarship, with a particular focus on the transition principal investigators from the Department of Ar-
between chiefdoms and petty kingdoms to supra- chaeology, Durham University, the Department of
regional kingdoms and states. The study of military Prehistory and Historical Archaeology, University
and royal institutions has largely dominated the of Vienna, and the Centre for Nordic Studies, Uni-
scholarly discourse, however, at the expense of dis- versity of the Highlands and Islands. TAP is study-
cussion on what can be considered perhaps the most ing the northwestern European assembly-institution
important agent in the process of medieval power: in its widest geographic and temporal contexts.
the assembly. Around the North Sea littoral, by the By means of archaeological and historical enquiry
9th to 12th centuries A.D., kingdoms were governed from a landscape perspective, the project seeks to
using systems of power in which assembly—both explore the role of the assembly in the development
royal and public—were integral elements in the and maintenance of these complex networks of
processes of negotiating, achieving consensus and power and authority.
exercising authority. In Norse society, assemblies This renewed interest in assembly is prescient
referred to as thing, which were both parliaments in an era in which the investigation of social net-
and courts, are evidenced in runic inscriptions and works via material culture has risen to prominence
written documents from the 11th century onwards. (e.g., Knappett 2011). Most social networks in pre-
The term thing is, however, much older in origin, modern societies integrated both hierarchical top-
and the existence of a thing organization in other down and peer-to-peer relations, with one type of
areas of Germanic settlement, can be gleaned in relationship likely to dominate the other (Iversen et
sources from, e.g., Neustria, Austrasia, Saxony, and al. 2007). The assembly was an institution that often
East Frisia. sat at the axis of lordship and peer-to-peer relations
Assemblies may in some regions have drawn on (Adolfsen 2000). The balance between these major
late prehistoric antecedents (e.g., Anundshög, Väst- forces of society changed and varied through time,
manland, Sweden and Lunde, Vestfold, Norway) and throughout, the assembly or thing played an
and they could also prove enduring, surviving as an integral role in the shaping and balancing of these
activity in certain places into the late medieval, early power systems. At the assembly, information was
modern, and even modern eras (e.g., Þingvellir, Ice- exchanged on many levels and power relations were
land and Tynwald Hill, Isle of Man, Great Britain). negotiated. According to Norse written sources,
In contrast to other power centers, such as palaces assembly attendants represented different social
and castles, the assembly seems to have been more levels to some extent, while active participation was
focused around a collective ethos, where decisions limited to landowners. The existence of assemblies
and verdicts were made jointly by groups of assem- across medieval societies in northwest Europe dem-
bly participants. The thing institution, despite often onstrates their significance at this time. They could
being labeled “democratic”, was a place where those be fluid, powerful, and even dangerous places where
with power often seem to have been able to push authority could be consolidated or challenged.
decisions in their favor, even before Scandinavian Through the dynamics of those attending and partic-
kings, through new legislation and legal reform, ipating in the meetings, they could at times act as a
took full control of the assemblies from the late 13th sort of independent agency. To control the assembly
century (Helle 2001, Sanmark 2006). was therefore vital in the formalization, expansion,
The Assembly Project (TAP) represents the first and consolidation of power, e.g., for kings in the
international collaborative project dedicated to in- Scandinavian kingdoms and for the Norse elite in the
vestigating the role of assemblies in the emergent newly settled territories in the west.
1Centre for Nordic Studies, University of the Highlands and Islands, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1QX, UK. 2Department of
Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. 3Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Universität
Wien, Franz-Klein-Gasse 1, 1190 Wien, Austria. 4Department of Cultural Management, Museum of Cultural History, Uni-
versity of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. *Corresponding author - [email protected].
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 5
A. Sanmark, S. Semple, N. Mehler, and F. Iversen
As part of The Assembly Project, four workshops ground, despite the streamlined systems described
have been held that have brought together the TAP in medieval laws and other sources. The first article,
team with external researchers, from a variety of by Halldis Hobæk, illustrates through a study of
disciplines and countries, to discuss and debate the Hardanger area in western Norway, the value of
our major research themes. Invited speakers have detailed retrogressive analysis using a combination
contributed papers on their own research, comple- of written sources and archaeological material in or-
menting and contrasting concepts of assembly der to reconstruct older administrative systems and
drawn from historical source material, place-names, units. In this way, Hobæk suggests eight possible
mythology, literature, and archaeological evidence. local assembly (heraðsþing) districts, which earlier
This volume, the first of two, presents eight selected researchers have presupposed for this area, but have
papers from the first two workshops. The papers not been able to identify. In Marie Ødegaard’s case
build on four of our project and workshop themes: study, the focus is shifted to the Borgarthing law
province in southeastern Norway, exploring the ad-
Valorization – assemblies in long-term perspective;
ministrative organization and assembly sites, both
Rhetoric – variations and similarities in the physical
on regional and lower levels, in particular the skip-
form and location of assemblies;
reiða units. Ødegaard convincingly demonstrates
Territorialization – the role of assemblies within
how the king’s varying position of power in the
existing and emerging kingdoms; and
different parts of the Borgarthing area influenced
Migration of Administrative Frameworks – the
law and enforcement. The third article in this sec-
implementation of systems of administration in
tion, by John Baker and Stuart Brookes, examines
new areas, especially in the Norse settlements
the hundredal organization in the southern Danelaw,
in the west.
again through detailed landscape analysis. Through
In this volume, the papers fall into three sec- a starting point in the 11th-century Domesday Book,
tions. The first, Debating Sources, examines the Baker and Brookes illustrate that the administra-
age and role of assemblies, mainly through the tive organization of the Danelaw at this time, which
use of written sources. Frode Iversen’s article re- consisted of hundreds and wapentakes, was a mul-
views some of the earliest sources to the Germanic tifaceted palimpsest of older and newer elements,
assembly institution, starting with the work of reflecting the shifting and complex political history
Tacitus from the 1st century A.D. and moving on of the area. This administrative landscape is showing
to the core areas of the Frankish kingdom and then not only Scandinavian influence, but also English,
to the outlying areas, arguing for the possibility of especially from the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia.
a tripartite thing system in existence prior to the The third and final section, entitled Places of
6th century. It is the first study that not only traces Assembly, deals with the archaeological evidence
the roots of the thing institution in the Germanic of assembly sites, placing them within the judicial
world, but also puts it in context with the thing networks in the landscape, from Shetland (Alex
institution in Scandinavia. Nanna Løkka and Anne Sanmark) to Iceland and the wider North Atlantic
Irene Riisøy, in two separate studies, take the nov- Norse settlements (Orri Vésteinsson). Sanmark’s
el approach of exploring the significance of eddic study of Norse assembly sites in Shetland illustrates
poetry in the study of law and assembly. Løkka, the strong pattern of assembly characteristics, both
through detailed textual analyses, identifies sev- in terms of landscape characteristics and archaeo-
eral strong ritual elements connected to the assem- logical features, found in this area. The article also
blies and also highlights the role of mythology for makes clear that assemblies formed an integral part
assembly procedures, while Riisøy argues that the of Norse society and were therefore most likely
population of Viking-Age Scandinavia attempted introduced rather early on in the settlement history,
to reproduce the “ideal assembly site”, described instead of merely being products of the Norwegian
in the poetry, in their own landscape. In terms of kingdom. Finally, Vésteinsson’s article contains a
assembly rituals, she points to the significance of detailed investigation of the role and function of
sacrifices of both animals and humans. the “booths”, which have long been considered to
The volume’s second section, Systems of Power, be a key component of an Icelandic assembly site.
contains studies from Norway and England, which Vésteinsson’s argument goes beyond function, as
together demonstrate the similarities and differences he sees a symbolic meaning in the booth structures
in administrative organization in the large geo- and in this way offers a fascinating and tempting
graphical area under scrutiny by TAP. These papers interpretation of the political underlying symbolism
also point to local variations in the administrative of the booths in Iceland.
system, within and between law districts, showing
that there is a lot of complexities and variation on the
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 5
A. Sanmark, S. Semple, N. Mehler, and F. Iversen
Acknowledgments meet, depending on the type of meeting. In a local
context, this applied to all free men and some wo-
The Assembly Project (TAP) – Meeting Places
men. In a regional context where assemblies were
in Northern Europe AD 400–1500 (2010–2013)
often representational, the “all” probably referred to
is funded by HERA (Humanities in the European
all the representatives. In Iceland, on the other hand,
Research Area). We would like to express our grati-
althing was the name of the general assembly at the
tude to all invited speakers to our workshops for
top of the hierarchy.
contributing research papers and sharing their
expertise. The first workshop was held at Durham Áttungr – “one eighth”. This administrative unit is
University,Great Britain, in February 2011, while known from all the Scandinavian countries, although
the second event took place in October 2011 at their form and function varied strongly between re-
Utstein Monastery, Stavanger, Norway. Partici- gions. Within the Gulathing law province, which is
pants and speakers at these two events were: Dr. discussed in this volume, the áttungar represented
John Baker, University of Nottingham; Dr. Stuart subdivisions of the fylki (see fylki).
Brookes, University College London; Prof. Stephen
Birk – a judicial district that did not form part of the
Driscoll, University of Glasgow; Endre Elvestad,
herað organization. These districts, which in most
Stavanger Maritime Museum; Dr. Ulf Jansson,
cases were tied to manors, are first mentioned in
Stockholm University; Dr. Nanna Løkka, Telemark
manuscripts dating from the middle of the 13th cen-
University College; Dean Paton, University of
tury in the areas that are, or were, part of Denmark.
Chester; Prof. Andrew Reynolds, University Col-
Its origins are unclear, but connections with the
lege London; Dr. Anne Irene Riisøy, Buskerud
Viking-Age trading site Birka in Sweden, and a basis
University College; Ola Svensson, The Institute for
in special royal legislation, have been proposed.
Language and Folklore, Lund; Prof. Orri Vésteins-
Fjórðungr – “one fourth”. This administrative unit is
son, University of Iceland; and Prof. Ingvild Øye,
known from all the Scandinavian countries, although
University of Bergen.
their form and function varied strongly between re-
gions. Within the Gulathing law province, which is
Literature Cited
discussed in this volume, the fjórðungar represented
Adolfsen, E. 2000. Maktforholdene på tingene i Norge ca. subdivisions of the fylki (see fylki).
900–ca.1200. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Universitetet
Fylki – large administrative divisions in Norway,
i Bergen. Bergen, Norway. 114 pp.
usually translated as “province” (see provincial
Helle, K. 2001. Gulatinget og Gulatingslova. Skald, Lei-
law).
kanger, Norway. 240 pp.
Iversen, T., J.R. Myking, and G. Thoma (Eds.). 2007. Gau – A Germanic term used in the Carolingian Em-
Bauern zwischen Herrschaft und Genossenschaft. Tapir
pire for large administrative divisions comparable to
Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway. 289 pp.
fylki and shire (see these terms).
Knappett, C. 2011. An Archaeology of Interaction: Net-
work Perspectives on Material Culture and Society. Ox- Herað – the smallest administrative unit, known
ford University Press, Oxford, UK. 251 pp. from all the Scandinavian countries, although it was
Sanmark, A. 2006. The communal nature of the judicial never uniformly enforced. Other types of such units
system in Early Medieval Norway, Collegium Medievale
also existed (see skipreiða).
19:31–64.
Heraðsþing – a local thing for the population of the
herað (see herað).
A Note on Terms and Conventions
Hundred – the smallest administrative unit in Anglo-
For terms where standard English translations Saxon England. The equivalent of the Scandinavian
exist, these have been used. This applies to titles of herað. Not uniformly enforced, as other such units
Icelandic sagas, eddic and skaldic poetry, and laws, existed too (see wapentake).
and in most cases, Old Norse titles have also been
Lagsogn – a subdivision of a law province (see
provided. For terms for which there is no standard
this term). Each lagsogn had its own lawman (see
English translation, standardized Old Norse termi-
lǫgmaðr). For example, in Norway in 1223, there
nology has been applied.
were three such subdivisions in the Frostathing law
province and two in the other law provinces.
Glossary containing some of the most important
Landzþing – In Sweden, this was the assembly at the
terms discussed in this volume
top of hierarchy in each law province, equivalent
Althing – a thing in Scandinavia were all members to the Norwegian lawthing (see this term). In Den-
of a defined group where obliged or encouraged to mark, there were at least thirteen such assemblies,
3
2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 5
A. Sanmark, S. Semple, N. Mehler, and F. Iversen
of which three were ranked above the rest from in the 13th century, when Iceland became part of the
the 13th century onwards. In East Frisia, Landdinge kingdom of Norway.
were held within areas denoted by the element land
Sýslumaðr – the royal officials of the sýslur (see
(Brokmerland, etc.)
sýsla).
Lathe – administrative units in Kent, Great Britain
Tithing – A sub-division of the Anglo-Saxon hun-
which consisted of several hundreds and filled some
dred consisting of ten members designated to vouch
roles usually associated with hundreds (see hundred
surety for one another. An equivalent term, Temane-
and rape).
tale, is encountered in the wapentakes of Richmond-
Law province – an area that had its own law. In the shire, UK (see hundred and wapentake).
13th/14th centuries, there were sixteen such provinces
Þingmaðr – Landowners/”freemen”, most likely in-
across Scandinavia, and at least five in the Norse
cluding landowning women too, aged over twelve or
settlements in the west.
fifteen, depending on geographical area, who had the
Lawthing – The highest ranked thing(s) (there could right to participate in the thing meetings.
be several) within a law province (see this term). A
Þriðjungr – “one third”. An administrative unit. In
lawthing was a representative assembly where royal
eastern Norway (Romerike and Hedmark), known
law was introduced and enforced.
only as an ecclesiastical unit. Also found in York-
Lǫgmaðr (lawman)/Lǫgsǫgumaðr (lawspeaker) shire, Great Britain (see Riding).
– the person whose responsibility it was to memo-
Wapentake – administrative district found in the
rize and recite the laws at the assembly and give
Danelaw. A division of the Riding and/or Shire (see
órskurðr, i.e. explain the stance of the law regard-
these terms). The rough equivalent of an Anglo-
ing matters brought to the thing. From the late 13th
Saxon hundred. Term derived from ON vápnatak.
century, the lawman had become an approved judge,
who could deliver verdicts. Ward – administrative district found in northern
England north of the Tees, functionally equivalent to
Pagus – Latin term for Gau (see this term) or a
a hundred or wapentake but of likely post-Conquest
general term for an administrative area in the Caro-
origin.
lingian Empire.
Provincial law – a law that applied in each of the
Abbreviations
law provinces of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
In the 13th/14th centuries, there were sixteen such OE Old English
laws across Scandinavia. Latin medieval sources ME Middle English
referred to them as, e.g., mos provinciae (provincial OHG Old High German
customs), ius terre (the law of the land), and regionis ON Old Norse
consuetudo (regional customs). OScand Old Scandinavian
OSw Old Swedish
Rape – administrative unit in Sussex, Great Britain,
which consisted of several hundreds and filled some
roles usually associated with hundreds (see hundred
and lathe).
Riding – secular (?) administrative unit in Yorkshire
and Lincolnshire, Great Britain (cf. Þriðjungr).
Shire – English term equivalent to fylki and Gau (see
these terms). A flexible designation, it was largely
synonymous with the county. However, it was also
associated with the archaic “small shires” of the
north and indeed served as a gloss for a number of
later feudal estates.
Skipreiða – administrative unit connected to the
levy fleet (leiðung) in Norway in the 10th and 11th
centuries. The skipreiður were also administrative
districts with their own assemblies (cf. herað).
Sýsla – administrative district connected to royal of-
fice, found in Norway, Denmark (Jutland), and Ice-
land. In Iceland, these districts were only introduced
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2013 Debating the TJhoinugr nianl t ohfe tNheo rNtho rIt:h T Ahtel aAnstsicembly Project Special Volume 5
2013 Journal of tFh. eI vNeorsretnh Atlantic Special Volume 5:5–17
Concilium and Pagus—Revisiting the Early Germanic Thing System of
Northern Europe
Frode Iversen*
Abstract - This article deals with the geographical organization of the thing system of Northern Europe prior to the pro-
cesses of supra-regional kingdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries, re-evaluating the early written evidence. It is argued that at
least three interrelated geographical judicial units (referred to as civitas, pagus, and centena) existed prior to the 6th century
within the historic areas of Austrasia, Frisia, and Saxony. Parallels to such a tripartite system are found in Scandinavia and
Iceland in the 10–12th centuries.
Past Perspectives on the Thing
discussions, fuelling perceptions of noble savagery:
The word þing, i.e., thing, exists in all of the primitive, spear-wielding tribes who placed a strong
Germanic languages and has been understood as “a emphasis on public debate and discussion at a des-
gathering in a certain place, at a certain time”. This ignated outdoor place of assembly. As part of this
word is likely connected to the gothic þeihs, which emerging genre of highly nationalistic scholarship,
means time, and the older verbal theme to constrict the identification of and debate on the existence and
(Bjorvand and Lindeman 2007:1151–1152). In this purpose of the Gau emerged. The Latin term pagus
sense, the word possesses both spatial and temporal was used by Tacitus when documenting the exis-
dimensions. Discussion on the thing in European tence of the judicial system, and this was interpreted
research has for many decades hinged on the work as evidence of the early existence of the Gau.
of Cornelius Tacitus, De origine, situ moribusa ac Reliance on Tacitus and his accounts of the
populis Germanorum, also known as Germania, Germanic groups north of the Roman frontier to-
written in A.D. 98. Tacitus’ description of the thing gether with Gau research fell into serious mistrust
(concilium) has led to extensive debate on whether after World War II. In the first half of the 1900s,
the medieval judicial and administrative topog- the Gau had been regarded as a proto-Germanic
raphy wholly or in part relates to late prehistoric thing area, and the term was adopted in national-
systems of organization and governance. Germania istic discourses under the Third Reich, together
has greatly influenced academic and non-academic with the thing (Ding). Germany’s newly acquired
interpretations of the thing (Birley 1999:38). A territories in the east were organized into so-called
mid-9th-century manuscript of Germania, the Codex Reichsgaue. Indeed, the administrative regions
Hersfeldensis, was rediscovered in a convent in Bad of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-
Hersfeld in Germany in 1455 and quickly became partei (NSDAP) were termed Gau, and during the
popular amongst influential German renaissance hu- years 1936-1939, NSDAP built 46 assembly sites,
manists, including Conrad Celtes (†1508), Johannes thingstätte, in present day Germany and Poland.
Aventinus (†1534) and Ulrich von Hutten (†1523). (Fig. 1). For these reasons, the Gau and the thing
Germania comprises approximately only 5500 became synonymous with the much dismissed
words and 46 sections. nationalistic discourse and research that served
However, the secondary literature regarding this the Nazi Party ethos (Fischer-Lichte 2005). This
work, including translations, is comprehensive. Dur- association almost certainly accounts for the low
ing the 1800s, in the scientific and popular literature, research activity on this topic in the decades after
the idea of the Germanic thing merged with romantic World War II.
notions of an idealized complex of freedom-loving, Limited knowledge is available regarding the
noble and proud Germanic peoples (Lenzing 2005, changing spatial organization and function of the kind
Schank 2000, Semple 2011). These noble peoples of meeting that emerged as the documented thing in
were envisaged to form a society situated some- early medieval Europe, but we know that thing was
where between the civilized Roman high society of closely connected in parts of Europe to the Gau. This
the south and the savage peoples of the far north. paper therefore explores the geographical organiza-
The concept of the thing has been primary to these tion of the thing and how the thing changed during
*Department of Cultural Management, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; frode.iversen@
khm.uio.no.
5
2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 5
F. Iversen
the formative process of supra-regional kingdoms in communal thing system, varied greatly from the
the Middle Ages in northern Europe. I propose that core areas of the Frankish realm to the peripheries
a re-evaluation of the few available sources used to of Scandinavia and beyond (Iversen 2011).
underpin Gau research is long overdue. Drawing on Previous research based itself on some gen-
research conducted through The Assembly Project, eral principles and models that are worth revisiting.
the modi operandi and geographical organization of First, the thing has been perceived as communal in
the judicial and legislative assembly in the Nordic origin, in that power was enforced through “popu-
regions is reconsidered in a long-term perspective. lar assemblies” and “folk moots”. Communalism
New perspectives on the transformation of a commu- has been defined as institutionalized interaction
nal system into a royally managed power network are in local societies solving public affairs (Imsen
proposed. 1990:9). Second, the thing has not been regarded
as a static institution but rather something that
evolved gradually into a royal tool during the
Key Questions and Perspectives:
Middle Ages (Barnwell 2003:2; Pantos and Semple
From Communal to Royal Administrative
2004; Sanmark 2006, 2009; Wenskus 1984). The
Landscapes
terms Genossenschaft (cooperative) and Herrschaft
Clearly, it is difficult to describe or indeed find (lordship) are associated with the legal historian
a unified development of the thing for the whole of Otto von Gierke (†1921) and the sociologist Maxi-
Northern Europe. The development of such institu- milian Karl Emil Weber (†1920) and have been
tions is complex and specific (Pantos and Semple central to the discussion of the thing institution.
2004, Semple and Sanmark 2013). The level of royal Within the perspective of historical materialism,
power, and hence the kings’ potential impact on the which focuses on class struggle, popular assemblies
Figure 1. The St. Annaberg assembly site, Góra Świętej Anny, Poland, was one of 46 Thingstätten built during the 1930s
by the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). It had a capacity up to 30,000 people. Image © Sarah
Semple.
6
