tingmand

Danish

Etymology

ting +‎ mand

Noun

tingmand c (singular definite tingmanden, plural indefinite tingmænd)

1. (historical, in Norse society) a follower of a more powerful man, usually a godi, who supports him on things and in conflicts in exchange for his protection
   • 1846, Grímur Thomsen, Udvalgte Sagastykker, fordanskede af GrímusThomsen, page 65:

     Derved havde en saadan hövding en stor indflydelse, og fölgelig og saa en stor magt over sine tingmænd.

     Thereby, such a chief had great influence, and consequently also great power over his thingmen.

   • 1871, Billeder af Livet paa Island: Islandske Sagaer, page 145:

     Siden solgte han Mjovenæs og kjøbte sig Land ude i Herredet paa det Sted, som hedder Ed; det tyktes ham tryggere at bo der og have sine Tingmænd omkring sig;...

     Later, he sold Mjovenæs and bought land out in the shire at the place called Ed; it seemed safer to him to live there and have his thingmen about himself;...

   • 2021 February 18, Thomas Bredsdorff, Kaos og kærlighed. En studie i islændingesagaers livsbillede, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Han tvang Jøkelsdalsmændene – det er beboerne i nabodalen – til at være sine tingmænd. Han var medgørlig og mild mod sine egne mænd, men strid og stivsindet mod Jøkelsdalsmændene og de nød ingen retfærdighed fra hans side.

     He forced the men of Jøkelsdal -- that is the inhabitants of the neighboring valley -- to be his thingmen. He was accommodating and gentle to his own men, but stubborn and stiff-minded to the men of Jøkalsdal, and they enjoyed no justice from his side.

   • 1879, J. E. Boesen, Snorre Sturlesøn: et nordisk tidsbillede fra det 13de hundredår, page 28:

     ... tillige samlede han sine tingmænd og venner, så han kunde møde på altinget med over 800 mand […]

     ... in addition, he gathered his thingmen and friends, so he could arrive at the Althing with over 800 men...

2. some sort of representative to some type of assembly
   • 1781, Peter Frederik Suhm, Samlinger til den Danske Historie, page 65:

     Landsting holdes i hver Provinds, hver fiortende Dag af Landsdommeren, som dertil kalder en Tingmand af hvert Herred.

     Country-thing is held in each province, every fourteenth day by the country-judge, who summons thereto a representative from each shire.