Talk:Althing

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[edit] Move

Moved because links on Ting point to the native names, for example folketing, Løgting and others. --Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 14:59, 2004 Jun 22 (UTC)

Shouldn't we use the English name? WhisperToMe 09:35, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Never mind. WhisperToMe 19:16, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

But there is no (established) English word for folketing - 'folkthing' would be natural, but the OED does not list it. Althing has existed since the late nineteenth century (and isn't it closer to the Old Norse?).

This also appears to be Wikipedia policy, as I read Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English). Comments? Septentrionalis 22:30, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] High Court 1800-1845

Someone please check my work. There was a reference to "this same royal decree" but no prior reference to a decree. I puzzled over the Icelandic Alþingi article and I think I got it right. It's been 20 years since I studied the language. -- Alarob 22:13, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Oldest still-acting Parliament in the world"

Them's mighty big words, especially compared to the established claim later in the article that the Althing is the oldest Parliament in Europe. The Manx Tynwald has a documented claim to have been in continuous action since 979. Does anyone have a source? - mholland 18:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

The Althing was established in 930 and has existed continuously since then. --D. Webb 20:43, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

"The Althing was disbanded by royal decree in 1800" (this article); "The modern parliament, called "Alþingi" (English: Althing), was founded in 1845 as an advisory body to the Danish king." (from Iceland). From what I understand, the current body is an establishment in the spirit of the original (and making a claim of authority based on that tradition), but in no real sense directly connected. Isn't it a bit of a POV stretch to say that it's the oldest still-acting Parliament in the world? - mholland 22:47, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

No POV pushing at all. Althing has always been a parliament and is generally regarded as the oldest one in the world, despite the few decades when it was discontinued. Few sources in English:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0002850.html http://www.danstopicals.com/iceland.htm http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570543/Althing.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763855,00.html http://www.interedu.com/include.php3?file=mbacia00

Regards, Introgressive 01:30, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

It has not existed continuously; and most of the time under the Danes it was an appointed High Court of Justice. But its claim to be the oldest is both traditional and defensible. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 21:37, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Althing versus Althingi

Just noting that "Althing" isn't necessarily the only English rendition. Iceland's embassy in the U.S. uses Althingi on its English-language FAQ. The U.S. State Department's background notes on Iceland also uses Althingi, as does the National Geographic Society, though the CIA World Factbook uses Althing. — OtherDave

But Althing is by far the most common, and more common in English than Alþing; we should be accessible to our readers. As to the general question of Icelandic names, I think a doctrinaire adherence to thorn to be both unwise and unhelpful; but they are a far more difficult question than this established name. I have therefore returned this article to the name it bore until it was unwarrantedly moved last March, but I will go no further. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 21:40, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Under Alþingi, Icelandic Online Dictionary has "Althing (the Icelandic legislative assembly)". To change the topic slightly, I'm curious about the statement that alþing was the Old Norse form. Fritzner's Old Norse dictionary only has alþingi, and Cleasby / Vigfússon calls alþing a "mod(ern) form" of alþingi and doesn't even give alþing a separate entry of its own. I don't remember ever seeing alþing in Old Norse, however most of my reading experience has been with texts that use normalised Old Norse orthography, and in some cases modernised orthography. A search of the Orðabók Háskólans text database produces just one example of alþing in a medieval text, namely Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa, albeit in modernised spelling, as against 25 examples of alþing in Modern Icelandic. It offers many examples, however, of alþingi in Old Norse texts. (But note that most, though not all, of these examples are ambiguous, since alþing is identical to alþingi in oblique cases.) These texts too use modern spelling, and may have been assimilated to the modern language on minor points such as slight variants in word form. The O.H. "Database of the Written Language" contains examples of each variant from Modern Icelandic; and the texts in this database are recorded in the original spelling. Provisional conclusion: both alþing and alþingi have been used in post-medieval Icelandic, and alþingi seems to have been the norm in Old Norse too. Whether alþing was used in the medieval language as well, and, if so, to what extent and from how early, I'm not sure. Dependent Variable 15:53, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leader of the Opposition

hwo is the Leader of the Opposition at alþingi and can you make a list of them ?

There is no such formal or even informal position and no form of address. Steingrímur J. Sigfússon is currently the head of the largest opposition party but I've never heard him referred to as "leader of the opposition". Haukur 10:42, 20 August 2007 (UTC)