Gothi

For the town in Nepal see Gothi, Nepal

A goði or gothi (plural goðar) is the Old Norse term for a priest and chieftain. Gyðja signifies a priestess.

During the Viking Age, the goði was originally a heathen priest. After the Settlement in Iceland, the hofgoði was a temple priest; this was usually a wealthy and respected man in his district, for he had to maintain the communal hall or hof in which community religious observances and feasts were held. The area over which a goði had leadership was termed a goðorð. Over time, and especially after 1000, when the Christian conversion occurred in Iceland, the term goði lost its sacred connotations and came to mean simply "chieftain".