goði

Goði is an Old Norse term usually translated as “priest-chieftain.” In the Icelandic Commonwealth (roughly 930–1262), a goði was the local leader of a goðorð, a political-religious district centered on a local cult site and a god or group of gods. The title combined sacred duties with secular authority, linking religious leadership to governance and law.

A goði’s responsibilities were both religious and political. Religiously, he presided over rites and sacrifices for his goðorð and maintained the cult practices associated with his district. Politically, the goði acted as a local magistrate and representative of his goðorð in the broader political system, including participation at the Althing, Iceland’s national assembly. His followers—free farmers aligned with his goðorð—owed him loyalty and support, and in return he provided leadership, protection, and the administration of local justice and resources.

Goðorð structure was not purely hereditary; leadership could be influences by the strength and loyalty of followers, and shifts in influence among rival goðar occur in the sagas and legal narratives. The system was organized around a community of goðar, with each goði leading a group of households within his district and collectively forming the backbone of Icelandic governance and law through the medieval period.

The institution waned with Christianization and the northern political realignments of the 13th century. By 1262–1264 Iceland entered into a treaty with Norway, and the formal goði system dissolved as a political order. The term, however, remains central in sagas and legal texts as a title for regional religious and political leaders of the Icelandic Commonwealth.