GOVERNMENT
We often attribute our democratic form of government to the early Greek democracies or Roman republics, but our North European ancestors were the Vikings who were extracted by virtue of distance from any exposure to the Greeks or Romans.
Legislative Branch
. The stone pillars represented the seat of each clan. The pillars were arranged in the shape of a longship so that the implication was all clansmen were ‘in the same boat’ regarding issues and decisions (Kallberg 67). These stone seats that represented tribes or counties are reminiscent of our legislative branch of democratic government.
Executive Branch
The seats of lawmaking also chose a king, but there was no royal house of rule. The king only executed battle plans (Kallberg 67). Our executive branch as represented by an elected president is very similar to their king chosen to execute their missions.
Judicial Branch
Based on the description in Grágás, a medieval Icelandic law book, it is likely that the court sat on three concentric rings of wooden benches. The regulations governing the court were complicated and were aimed at ensuring in every possible way that there could be no doubt about the justice of the outcome, much like our judicial branch of government (Short 28).