- Gothi
:"for the town in Nepal see
Gothi, Nepal "A goði or gothi (plural goðar) is the Old Norse term for apriest and chieftain. Gyðja signifies a priestess.The name appears in
Wulfila 'sGothic language translation of the bible as "gudja" for "priest", but in Old Norse it is only the feminine form "gyðja" that perfectly corresponds to the Gothic form. [http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/png/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0208.png"An Icelandic-English dictionary" by Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson (1874) p. 208.] ] The corresponding masculine Old Norse form would have been an unattested *"gyði".In Scandinavia there are surviving early attestations in the
Proto-Norse form "gudija" from the Norwegian Nordhuglo runestone,The article "gotiska" in "Nationalencyklopedin " (1992)] and in the later Old Norse form "goði" from two Danish runestones, theGlavendrup stone (DR 209) and the Helnæs Runestone (DR 190).Otherwise, there are no further surviving attestations except from Iceland where the "goðar" would be of historical significance. The goðar are depicted in the Sagas as the religious and political leaders of their district or "goðorð". In
Iceland , prior toChristianization , religious temples or "hofs" were privately owned and maintained by a "hofgoði" or "temple priest". They were also an important part of the Icelandic political system for a long time after the arrival of Christianity.The term goði is often used as a priestly title by modern adherents of various denominations of
Germanic Neopaganism , especially inÁsatrú .A "goðorð" or "godord" refers to a domain or an area of influence controlled by an
Iceland ic medieval chieftain, or "goði".Notes
References
*Byock, Jesse L. (1993). "Goði". Entry in "Medieval Scandinavia, an Encyclopedia" (Phillip Pulsiano, ed.), 230-231. Garland: NY and London, ISBN 0-8240-4787-7.
*Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson (1998). "Blót" and "Þing": The Function of the Tenth-Century "Goði", in "A Piece of Horse Liver: Myth, Ritual and Folklore in Old Icelandic Sources", 35-56. Reykjavik, ISBN 9979-54-264-0.ee also
*
Althing
*Ásatrú
*Blót
*Guðrún Kristín Magnúsdóttir - a modern day goði
*Icelandic commonwealth
*Norse paganism
*Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson
*Trollkyrka
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