Learnings: The Gothi, or Lawkeeper

An offering to Thor, painted by Johan Ludvig Gebhard Lund / 19th cent.

The gothi was a keeper of the law; he knew all the rules of his society by heart and used his knowledge to guide its actions.

His title, "gothi"; from the goð, or "god", might suggest he held a religious role. While the medieval Scandinavians did not have priests like that Christians, the gothi may have helped to oversee religious rituals, as seen in this painting. Scandinavians would have believed that the gothi served the gods by knowing the law. Law was considered an instrument of order and harmony. Just as the gods gave order to the universe, the gothi's knowledge of law helped to keep the peace among the humans of his community.