When looking back at Norwegian history, you can see the start of what would later develop into what we now know as modern democracy. Although it had a very different name, the Norse Thing system shared a lot of similarities with many democratic systems that we see today.

What Was the Thing?

Despite their image of being barbaric savages that cared only about conquering civilizations, Vikings were so much more than that. A good example of this is the fact that most people don’t even know exactly what a Viking is. Most people believe that the term Viking was used to describe all the people living in what is now Norway.

However, Vikings were only a small group of these Norse people and they were only actually classified as Vikings when conducting the aforementioned Viking activities and conquering. Otherwise, they were much more civilized societies made up of farmers and traders and even had their own political system.

This political system was known as the Thing and was an early version of what later became democracy. The Thing was conducted at a local level, with each community having its own system. The Thing was designed to be a system where individual issues would be brought forth in the community and addressed in an inclusive setting so that everyone could voice their opinion on the matter.