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{{short description|Norse god of peace, truth, and justice}}
[[Image:AM 738 4to, 39v, BW Forseti.jpeg|thumb|upright|Forseti, 1680]][[Image:Forseti zu Gericht sitzend.jpg|thumb|''Forseti Seated in Judgment'' (1881) by [[Carl Emil Doepler]]]]

'''Forseti''' ([[Old Norse]] "the presiding one", "[[President (government title)|president]]" in modern [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] and [[Faroese language|Faroese]]) is the [[Æsir|god]] of justice and reconciliation in [[Norse mythology]]. He is generally identified with '''Fosite''', a god of the [[Frisians]].

==Name==
Grimm took ''Forseti'', "''praeses, princeps''", to be the older form of the name, first postulating the [[Old High German]] equivalent ''*forasizo'' (cf. modern German ''Vorsitzender'' "one who presides", Old English ''fore-sittan'' 'to preside').<ref>Grimm, [https://books.google.com/books?id=q1gOAAAAYAAJ&dq=Grimm+Stallybrass+Teutonic+Mythology+Fossite&pg=PA231 p. 231].</ref> but later preferring a derivation from ''fors'', a "whirling stream" or "cataract", connected to the spring and the god's veneration by seagoing peoples.<ref>Grimm, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CllJAAAAMAAJ&dq=Grimm+Stallybrass+Teutonic+Mythology+%22whirling+stream%22&pg=PA232 p. 232, note 2]; volume 4 (Supplement, 1883) [https://books.google.com/books?id=JmNJAAAAMAAJ&dq=Grimm+Stallybrass+Teutonic+Mythology+cataract&pg=PA1360 p. 1360].</ref> It is plausible that ''Fosite'' is the older name and ''Forseti'' a [[folk etymology]].<ref>[[Jan de Vries (linguist)|Jan de Vries]], ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte'', volume 2, 2nd ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1957, repr. 1970, p. 283 {{in lang|de}}.</ref> According to the German [[philologist]] Hans Kuhn the Germanic form Fosite is linguistically identical to Greek ''[[Poseidon]]'', hence the original name may have been introduced before the [[Proto-Germanic]] [[sound change]], possibly via Greek sailors purchasing [[amber]] (cf. ''Phol'' as a cognate of ''[[Baldr#Merseburg Incantation|Baldr]]'').<ref>Hans Kuhn, ''Kleine Schriften IV: Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1968-1976'', ed. D. Hofmann, Berlin/New York 1978, p. 186-188.</ref><ref>Ludwig Rübekeil, "Scandinavia in the Light of Ancient Tradition", translated by James E. Cohen, in ''The Nordic Languages'', ed. Oscar Bandle et al., Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York. 2002. p. 598.</ref> The etymologist Wolfgang Laur, is highly critical, however, as the names of Germanic gods are composed almost exclusively of Germanic components. According to Laur, the name Forseti remains largely unexplained.<ref>Wolfgang Laur, ''Germanische Heiligtümer und Religion im Spiegel der Ortsnamen: Schleswig-Holstein, nördliches Niedersachsen und Dänemark'', Neumünster 2001, p. 84.</ref>

==Old Norse ''Forseti''==
According to [[Snorri Sturluson]] in the [[Prose Edda]],<ref>''Gylfaginning'' ch. 32: text and translation online at [http://www.voluspa.org/gylfaginning31-40.htm voluspa.org].</ref> Forseti is the son of [[Baldr]] and [[Nanna (Norse deity)|Nanna]]. His is the best of courts; all those who come before him leave reconciled. This suggests skill in [[mediation]] and is in contrast to his fellow god [[Týr]], who "is not called a reconciler of men."<ref>''Gylfaginning'' ch. 25, tr. [[Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur]], online at [http://www.voluspa.org/gylfaginning21-30.htm voluspa.org].</ref> However, as [[Jan de Vries (linguist)|de Vries]] points out, the only basis for associating Forseti with justice seems to have been his name; there is no corroborating evidence in Norse mythology.<ref>De Vries, p. 283.</ref> 'Puts to sleep all suits' or 'stills all strifes' may have been a late addition to the strophe Snorri cites, from which he derives the information.<ref name=EllisDavidson171>[[Hilda Ellis Davidson|Hilda R. Ellis Davidson]], ''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe'', London: Pelican, 1964, repr. Penguin, 1990, {{ISBN|0-14-013627-4}}; repr. as ''Gods and Myths of the Viking Age'', New York: Bell, 1981, {{ISBN|0-517-33644-8}}, p. 171.</ref>

The first element in the name ''Forsetlund'' ([[Old Norse]] ''Forsetalundr''), a farm in the parish of [[Onsøy]] ('Odin's island'), in eastern Norway, seems to be the genitive case of Forseti, offering evidence he was worshipped there.<ref name=EllisDavidson171/><ref>[[Gabriel Turville-Petre|E.O.G. Turville-Petre]],''Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia'', London, Weidenfeld, 1964, p. 238.</ref>

===Glitnir===
'''Glitnir''' (meaning "one who shines")<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5863|title=Hvað merkir orðið Glitnir og hvaðan er það upprunnið?|website=Vísindavefurinn|language=is|access-date=2020-03-27|author=Guðrún Kvaran|author-link=Guðrún Kvaran}}</ref> is the hall of Forseti, and the seat of justice amongst [[Æsir|gods]] and men. It is also noted to have been a place of dwelling for [[Baldr]], Forseti's father in Norse and [[Germanic mythology|Germanic mythologies]]. Glitnir is symbolic of the importance of discussion rather than violence as a means of resolution of conflict within the Norse tradition. It has pillars of [[gold]] and is roofed with [[silver]], which radiated light that could be seen from a great distance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/011_03.php |title=Grimm's TM - Chap. 11 |publisher=Northvegr |access-date=2018-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517073207/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/011_03.php |archive-date=2008-05-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The stories of Baldr and his son Forseti may have been contaminated with legends about king [[Guðmundr]] and his son Höfundr ('the judge'), who inhabited the [[otherworld]] land of [[Glæsisvellir]].

==Frisian ''Fosite''==

According to [[Alcuin]]'s Life of [[Willibrord|St. Willebrord]], the saint visited an island between Frisia and Denmark that was sacred to Fosite and was called Fositesland after the god worshipped there. There was a sacred spring from which water had to be drawn in silence, it was so holy. Willebrord defiled the spring by baptizing people in it and killing a cow there.<ref name=EllisDavidson171/> [[Altfrid]] tells the same story of [[Ludger|St. Liudger]].<ref>De Vries, p. 282.</ref> Adam of Bremen retells the story and adds that the island was ''Heiligland'', i.e., [[Heligoland]].<ref>''[[Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum]]'' Book IV (''Descriptio insularum aquilonis''), ch. 3.</ref>

There is also a late-medieval legend of the origins of written Frisian laws. Wishing to assemble written lawcodes for all his subject peoples, [[Charlemagne]] summoned twelve representatives of the Frisian people, the ''[[asega]]'s'' ('law-speakers'), and demanded they recite their people's laws. When they could not do so after several days, he let them choose between death, slavery, or being set adrift in a rudderless boat. They chose the last and prayed for help, whereupon a thirteenth man appeared, with a golden axe on his shoulder. He steered the boat to land with the axe, then threw it ashore; a spring appeared where it landed. He taught them laws and then disappeared.<ref>Ellis Davidson, pp. 171-72.</ref><ref>Thomas L. Mackey, ''Frisian'', Trends in Linguistics, The Hague: Mouton, 1981, {{ISBN|90-279-3128-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nHfrA_Ss7VYC&dq=twelve+Frisian+axe+law+spring&pg=PA64 pp. 63-64] calls this "the king Karl and King Redbad episode" and notes there are several versions.</ref> The stranger and the spring have traditionally been identified with Fosite and the sacred spring of Fositesland.

This hypothesis has not met with universal acceptance.<ref>Willy Krogmann, 'Die friesische Sage von der Findung des Rechts', in: ''Zeitschrift für Rechtsgeschichte, Germanische Abteilung'' 84 (1967), pp. 72-127.</ref>

==Reception==
[[Jacob Grimm]] noted that if, as [[Adam of Bremen]] states, Fosite's sacred island was [[Heligoland]], that would make him an ideal candidate for a deity known to both Frisians and Scandinavians, but that it is surprising he is never mentioned by [[Saxo Grammaticus]].<ref>[[Jacob Grimm]], ''[[Deutsche Mythologie|Teutonic Mythology]]'', tr. James Steven Stallybrass, volume 1 London: Bell, 1882, [https://books.google.com/books?id=q1gOAAAAYAAJ&q=Helgoland&pg=PA231 p. 231].</ref>

==In modern culture==
The German [[neofolk]] band [[Forseti (band)|Forseti]] named itself after the god.<ref>Andreas Diesel, Dieter Gerten. Looking for Europe: Neofolk und Hintergründe. Index Verlag 2007. p. 217 {{isbn|978-393687802-8}}</ref>

In the 2002 [[Ensemble Studios]] game ''[[Age of Mythology]]'', Forseti is one of 9 minor gods Norse players can worship.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.ign.com/wikis/age-of-mythology/The_Minor_Gods:_Norse| title = The Minor Gods: Norse - Age of Mythology Wiki Guide - IGN| date = 27 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/Age_of_Mythology/page/n11/mode/2up | title=Age of Mythology }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/Age_of_Mythology_Reference_Manual/page/n29/mode/2up | title=Age of Mythology Reference Manual }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Mythology}}
*[[Poetic Edda]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Wiktionary-inline|forseti}}
*{{Commons category-inline|Forseti}}

{{Norse mythology}}

[[Category:Æsir]]
[[Category:Germanic gods]]
[[Category:Justice gods]]
[[Category:Norse gods]]
[[Category:Peace gods]]
[[Category:Baldr]]