Gothi

[1] It possibly appears in Ulfilas' Gothic language translation of the Bible as gudja for "priest", although the corresponding form of this in Icelandic would have been an unattested *gyði.

The Norwegian Nordhuglo stone from around AD 400 seems to place the title in opposition to magic, using a word related to the Old Norse gandr.

After the settlement of Iceland, a hofgoði was usually a wealthy and respected man in his district, for he had to maintain the communal hall or hof in which community religious observances and feasts were held.

[1] The office was in many respects treated as private property but was not counted as taxable, and is defined in the Gray Goose Laws as "power and not wealth" (veldi er þat en æigi fe); nevertheless the goðar are frequently portrayed in the sagas as concerned with money and expected to be paid for their services.

[1] During the Icelandic Commonwealth, the responsibilities of a goði or goðorðsmaður ("goðorð man") included the annual organization of the local assemblies várþing in the spring and leið in the autumn.

They also had a central role in the redistribution of wealth, by holding feasts, giving gifts, making loans, extending hospitality, as well as pricing and helping to distribute imported goods.

[1] The holder of the goðorð of the descendants of Ingólfr Arnarson, the first Scandinavian to settle permanently in Iceland, had the ceremonial role of sanctifying the Althing each year, and was called the allsherjargoði ("all-people goði").

The institution came to an end when the major goðar pledged fealty to king Haakon IV of Norway in 1262–1264, signing the Old Covenant, and the Norwegian crown abolished the goðorð system.