Þing

Old Norse Dictionary - þing

Meaning of Old Norse word "þing" in English.

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

þing Old Norse word can mean:

þing: n. [no Goth. þigg is recorded; A. S. and Hel. þing; Engl. thing; O. H. G., Germ., and Dutch ding; Dan.-Swed. ting.]

þing: A. A thing, Lat. res. In the Icel. this sense of the word is almost unknown, although in full use in mod. Dan.-Swed. ting, where it may come from a later Germ. influence.

þing: II. in plur. articles, objects, things, esp. with the notion of costly articles: þeir rannsaka allan hans reiðing ok allan hans klæðnað ok þing, articles, Sturl. iii. 295; þau þing (articles, inventories) er hann keypti kirkjunni innan sik, Vm. 20; þessi þing gaf Herra Vilkin kirkjunni í Klofa,—messu-klæði, kaleik, etc., 26.

þing: 2. valuables, jewels (esp. of a married lady), the law often speaks of the ‘þing’ and the ‘heimanfylgja;’ ef maðr fær konu at lands-lögum réttum … þá skulu lúkask henni þing sín ok heimanfylgja, Gþl. 231; hann hafði ór undir-heimum þau þing at eigi munu slík í Noregi, FmS. iii. 178; siðan tók hón þing sín, 195; eptir samkvámu (marriage) þeirra þá veitti Sveinn konungr áhald þingum þeim er ját vóru ok skilat með systur hans, x. 394; maðr skal skilja þing með frændkonu sinni ok svá heiman-fylgju, n. G. l. ii; skal Ólafr lúka Geirlaugu þing sín, svá mikil sem hón fær löglig vitni til, D. n. i. 108; þinga-veð, a security for a lady’s paraphernalia, D. n. passim.

þing: B. As a law phrase [see Þingvöllr]:

þing: I. an assembly, meeting, a general term for any public meeting, esp. for purposes of legislation, a parliament, including courts of law; in this sense þing is a standard word throughout all Scandinavian countries (cp. the Tyn-wald, or meeting-place of the Manx parliament): technical phrases, blása til þings, kveðja þings, stefna þing, setja þing, kenna þing (n. G. l. i. 63); helga þing, heyja þing, eiga þing; slíta þingi, segja þing laust, to dissolve a meeting, see the verbs: so also a þing ‘er fast’ when sitting, ‘er laust’ when dissolved (fastr I. γ, lauss II. 7); Dróttins-dag hinn fyrra í þingi, ríða af þingi, ríða á þing, til þings, vera um nótt af þingi, öndvert þing, ofanvert þing, Grág. i. 24, 25; nú eru þar þing (parliaments) tvau á einum þingvelli, ok skulu þeir þá fara um þau þing bæði (in local sense), 127; um várit tóku bændr af þingit ok vildu eigi hafa, Vápn. 22; hann hafði tekit af Vöðla-þing, skyldi þar eigi sóknar-þing heita, Sturl. i. 141: in countless instances in the Sagas and the Grág., esp. the Nj. passim, Íb. ch. 7, Gísl. 54–57, Glúm. ch. 24, 27, Eb. ch. 9, 10, 56, Lv. ch. 4, 15–17: other kinds of assemblies in Icel. were Leiðar-þing, also called Þriðja-þing, Grág. i. 148; or Leið, q. v.; hreppstjórnar-þing (see p. 284); manntals-þing; in Norway, bygða-þing, D. n. ii. 330; hús-þing, vápna-þing, refsi-þing, v. sub vocc.:—eccl. a council, H. E. i. 457, Ann. 1274; þing í Nicea, 415. 14.

þing: 2. a parish (opp. to a benefice); in Iceland this word is still used of those parishes whose priest does not reside by the church, no manse being appointed as his fixed residence; such a parish is called þing or þinga-brauð (and he is called þinga-prestr, q. v.), as opp. to a ‘beneficium,’ Grág. i. 471, K. Þ. K. 30, 70, K. Á. passim; bóndi er skyldr at ala presti hest til allra nauðsynja í þingin, Vm. 73; tíundir af hverjum bónda í þingunum, 96, BS. i. 330, H. E. ii. 48, 85, 128.

þing: 3. an interview, of lovers, H. E. i. 244; þat var talat at Þorbjörn væri í þingum við Þórdísi, Gísl. 5; nær þú á þingi mant nenna Njarðar syni, Skm. 38; man-þing, laun-þing.

þing: II. loc. a district, county, shire, a þing-community, like lög (sec p. 369, col. 2, B. II); a ‘þing’ was the political division of a country; hence the law phrase, vera í þingi með goða, to be in the district of such and such a godi, to be his liegeman, cp. þingfesti; or, segjask or þingi, see the Grág., Nj., and Sagas, passim; full goðorð ok forn þing, Grág. i. 15; í því þingi eðr um þau þing, 85. In later times Icel. was politically divided into twelve or thirteen countieS. In old days every community or ‘law’ had its own assembly or parliament, whence the double sense of ‘lög’ as well as of ‘þing.’

þing: C. HISTORICAL REMARKS.—In Norway the later political division and constitution of the country dates from king Hacon the Good and his counsellors Thorleif the Wise and earl Sigurd. As king Harold Fairhair was the conqueror of Norway, so was his son Hacon her legislator as also the founder of her constitution, and of her political division into ‘þings;’ for this is the true meaning of the classical passage,—hann (king Hacon) lasgði mikinn hug á laga-setning í Noregi, hann setti Gulaþings-lög ok Frostaþings-lög, ok Heiðsævis-lög fyrst at upphafi, en áðr höfðu sér hverir fylkis-menn lög, Ó. H. 9; in Hkr. l. c. the passage runs thus—hann setti Gulaþings-lög með ráði Þorleifs spaka, ok hann setti Frostaþings-lög með ráði Sigurðar jarls ok annara Þrænda þeirra er vitrastir vóru, en Heiðsævis-lög hafði sett Hálfdan svarti, sem fyrr er ritað, Hkr. 349 new Ed.; the account in Eg. ch. 57, therefore, although no doubt true in substance, is, as is so often the case in the Sagas, an anachronism; for in the reign of Eric ‘Bloodaxe,’ there were only isolated fylkis-þing, and no Gula-þing. In later times St. Olave added a fourth þing, Borgar-þing, to the three old ones of king Hacon (those of Gula, Frosta, and Heiðsævi); and as he became a saint, he got the name of legislator in the popular tradition, the credit of it was taken from Hacon, the right man; yet Sighvat the poet speaks, in his Bersöglis-vísur, of the laws of king Hacon the foster-son of Athelstan. Distinction is therefore to be made between the ancient ‘county’ þing and the later ‘united’ þing, called lög-þing (Maurer’s ‘ding-bund’); also almennilegt þing or almanna-þing, D. n. ii. 265, iii. 277; fjórðunga þing, ii. 282; alþingi, alls-herjar-þing. The former in Norway was called fylkis-þing, or county þing; in Icel. vár-þing, héraðs-þing, fjórðungs-þing (cp. A. S. scîrgemot, a shiremote). Many of the old pre-Haconian fylkis-þing or shiremotes seem to have continued long afterwards, at least in name, although their importance was much reduced; such we believe were the Hauga-þing (the old fylkis-þing of the county Westfold), FmS. viii. 245, Fb. ii. 446, iii. 24; as also Þróndarness-þing, Arnarheims-þing, Kefleyjar-þing, Mork. 179.

þing: II. in Iceland the united þing or parliament was called Al-þingi; for its connection with the legislation of king Hacon, see Íb. ch. 2–5 (the chronology seems to be confused): again, the earlier Icel. spring þings (vár-þing), also called héraðs-þing (county þing) or fjórðunga-þing (quarter þing), answer to the Norse fylkis-þing; such were the Þórness-þing, Eb., Landn., Gísl., Sturl.; Kjalarness-þing, Landn. (App.); Þverár-þing, Íb.; also called Þingness-þing, Sturl. ii. 94; Húnavatns-þing, Vd.; Vöðla-þing, Lv., Band.; Skaptafells-þing, Nj.; Árness-þing, Flóam. S.; þingskála-þing, Nj.; Hegraness-þing, Glúm., Lv., Grett.; Múla-þing (two of that name), Jb. (begin.), cp. Grág. i. 127; Þorskafjarðar-þing, Gísl., Landn.; Þingeyjar-þing, Jb.; further, Krakalækjar-þing, Dropl. (vellum, see Ny Fél. xxi. 125); Sunnudals-þing, Vápn.; þing við Vallna-laug, Lv.; þing í Straumfirði, Eb.; Hvalseyrar-þing, Gísl.; or þing í Dýrafirði, Sturl.; Fjósatungu-þing, Lv.

þing: III. in Sweden the chief þings named were Uppsala-þing, Ó. H.; and Mora-þing (wrongly called Múla-þing, Ó. H. l. c., in all the numerous vellum MSS. of this Saga; the Icelandic chronicler or the transcriber probably had in mind the Icel. þing of that name).

þing: IV. in Denmark, Vebjarga-þing, Knytl. S.; Íseyrar-þing, Jómsv. S.

þing: V. in the Faroe Islands, the þing in Þórshöfn, Fær.: in Greenland, the þing in Garðar, Fbr.

þing: VI. freq. in Icel. local names, Þing-völlr, Þing-vellir (plur.) = Tingwall, in Shetland; Þing-nes, Þing-eyrar, Þing-ey, Þing-eyri (sing.); Þing-múli, Þing-skálar, etc., Landn., map of Icel.; Þing-holt (near Reykjavik).

þing: D. COMPDS: þingsafglöpun, þingsboð, þingabrauð, þingadeild, þingadómr, þingakvöð, þingaprestr, þingasaga, þingatollr, þingaþáttr.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚦᛁᚾᚴ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Abbreviations used:

A. S.: Anglo-Saxon.

Dan.: Danish.

Engl.: English.

Germ.: German.

gl.: glossary.

Goth.: Gothic.

Hel.: Heliand.

l.: line.

m.: masculine.

n.: neuter.

O. H. G.: Old High German.

S.: Saga.

Swed.: Swedish.

Icel.: Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.

Lat.: Latin.

mod.: modern.

esp.: especially.

etc.: et cetera.

plur.: plural.

L.: Linnæus.

ch.: chapter.

cp.: compare.

eccl.: ecclesiastical.

q. v.: quod vide.

v.: vide.

opp.: opposed.

loc.: local, locally.

l. c.: loco citato.

begin.: beginning.

pl.: plural.

freq.: frequent, frequently.

sing.: singular.

Works & Authors cited:

Sturl.: Sturlunga Saga. (D. I.)

Vm.: Vilkins-máldagi. (J. I.)

D. N.: Diplomatarium Norvagicum. (J. II.)

Fms.: Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)

Gþl.: Gulaþings-lög. (B. II.)

N. G. L.: Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)

Ann.: Íslenzkir Annálar. (D. IV.)

Eb.: Eyrbyggja Saga. (D. II.)

Gísl.: Gísla Saga. (D. II.)

Glúm.: Víga-Glúms Saga. (D. II.)

Grág.: Grágás. (B. I.)

H. E.: Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiae. (J. I.)

Íb.: Íslendinga-bók. (D. I.)

Lv.: Ljósvetninga Saga. (D. II.)

Nj.: Njála. (D. II.)

Vápn.: Vápnfirðinga Saga. (D. II.)

Bs.: Biskupa Sögur. (D. III.)

K. Á.: Kristinn-réttr Árna biskups. (B. III.)

K. Þ. K.: Kristinn-réttr Þorláks ok Ketils = Kristinna-laga-þáttr. (B. I.)

Skm.: Skírnis-mál. (A. I.)

Eg.: Egils Saga. (D. II.)

Fb.: Flateyjar-bók (E. I.)

Hkr.: Heimskringla. (E. I.)

Mork.: Morkinskinna. (E. I.)

Ó. H.: Ólafs Saga Helga. (E. I.)

Band.: Banda-manna Saga. (D. II.)

Dropl.: Droplaugar-sona Saga. (D. II.)

Fél.: Félags-rit.

Flóam. S.: Flóamanna Saga. (E. I.)

Grett.: Grettis Saga. (D. II.)

Jb.: Jóns-bók. (B. III.)

Landn.: Landnáma. (D. I.)

Vd.: Vatnsdæla Saga. (D. II.)

Jómsv. S.: Jómsvíkinga Saga. (E. I.)

Knytl.: Knytlinga Saga. (E. I.)

Fbr.: Fóstbræðra Saga. (D. II.)

Fær.: Færeyinga Saga. (E. II.)

➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

Also available in related dictionaries:

This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.