Thing

Thing
In Northern tradition in Midhgardhur, a thing is a sort of democratic assembly at which free men and nobles gather to vote on important issues, including the election of kings. The Haugathing in The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper is one such ''thing. When King Haraldur Halfdansson the Einkonungur came to power, he largely did away with the authority of the thing, ''preferring to keep all authority within his own royal prerogative. The Northmenn who fled Haraldur's reign to places in the West, especially Nyrheimur, retained the tradtion of the thing as their primary legal authority.