530 THE GODI AND THE GODISHIP. 



Althing holy was called allsherjar godi (the godi of the whole 

 host). 



We see that in Iceland at first the Kjalnesinga godi had 

 the high office at the Althing, x but later the godi in whose 

 district the Althing lay. 



The Althing began on Thursday when ten weeks (fifty days) 

 of summer had passed, and lasted fourteen days. 2 



To the Althing all the godis had to come, and to arrive on 

 Thursday night, before the sun had left the plain ; if not, they 

 forfeited their godiship. If a godi had met with lawful 

 hindrances, the godi of the same Thing-district decided who 

 should take his place. He had the right to call upon every 

 ninth man of his Thingmen to follow him to the Spring-thing. 3 



All the boendr who had come to the Althing on Thursday 

 night were considered rigid Thingmen, but the bo3ndr who 

 remained at home had to pay a fine. If they came before the 

 first Sunday of the Thing they were right Thingmen, but 

 received no pay. The Thingmen were not allowed to leave 

 the precincts of the Thing before the assembly was dissolved. 4 



" All godis shall come to the Thing on the fifth day of the 

 week when 10 weeks of the summer have passed before the sun 

 leaves the Thing-plain. If they do not come they are fined 

 and lose their godiship, unless necessity causes their absence. 

 The Thingmen shall come to the Thing on the fifth day of the 

 week and go to their booth with the godi in whose Thing-district 

 they are ; each of them shall have a partition of cloth across 

 the booth ; each shall get Thing-journey pay, and they are 

 Thingmen both in their own matters and in those of others. 

 The godi is then bound to give a Thingman room in his booth ; 

 if he does not, then the Thingman does not break the law 

 though he go to another booth, and has also a claim to the 

 Thing-journey pay. Men shall pay Thing-journey pay as 

 they agree upon in every district with the godi. . . The 

 Thingmen shall not be one night or longer away from the 

 Thing; nor are they Thingmen when they go outside the 

 Thing-marks " (Gragas, i. 24). 



Sometimes meetings took place called Vdpnathing, where 



1 Landnama, 1, c. 9 ; Islendinga Sogur, 

 i. 336. 



2 Gragas, 23, 43. 



3 Gragas, 59. 

 Gragas, 23. 



4 



