Tuesday, June 24, 2008

TYNWALD, A VIKING LEGACY


Tynwald

In 800 AD the Vikings founded Tynwald, the oldest working parliament in the world. This Parliament is still in existence on the island today. Iceland and San Marino lay claims to being older, but it is now acknowledged that The Isle of Man Tynwald, since it's conception, is the one with the unbroken record of service. Therefore, it is officially, the oldest known continuous Parliament and a model for followers of the Nordic System Of Parliament elsewhere.

Tynwald means open assembly in old Norse and can be linked to similar assemblies on Island (Tingvellir) and the Faroe Islands (Logting).

The Tynwald might have been local and regional to begin with and then later developed into one centralized assembly or goverment. These Tynwalds were already in operation before the establisment of Parliamentary Goverment in England. Long Before!

At Tynwald old laws or rules from the local areas were made official, new laws submitted and punishments were metered out to law breakers. Again, the Vikings implemented rules and regulations, and a system of government not just as we are often lead to believe plunder for spoils and sail away. In fact the evidence proves otherwise, with the Tynwald being the best, lasting legacy.

This is why I chose the photo to accompany the text today

National flower

The unofficial Manx National Flower is the yellow Ragwort, known locally as Cushag, which blooms in late summer. However landowners are legally obliged to clear it as it's poisonous to cattle. Gorse, spurned by farmers in many other parts of Britain, is an integral part of the Manx landscape and many gorse and earth sod hedges date back to Viking times. So again you see not only the Parliament is Norse, so too is the albeit unofficial National Flower, which just happens to grow on my beloved nature reserve.




28 comments:

Ann said...

Pretty flower. Your histories are fascinating. Would like to have a look at the island one day.

Louis la Vache said...

Babooshka, "Louis" is genuinely enjoying your Viking series and thanks you for the effort you are putting into posting these informative posts.

Bergson said...

a good report beautiful flower

Small City Scenes said...

Very interesting post. thank you for sharing. I learn so much on everyone's blog. We have a similar plant--Scotch Broom also Gorse, both belong to the Pea family. MB

Anonymous said...

excellent for ones more

mrsnesbitt said...

How interesting! We have lots of gorse on the moors, I never knew it was poisonous to cattle, but it all fits into place now.

Anonymous said...

I did not of such a connection with The Norsemen.

JAMJARSUPERSTAR said...

Mmm, juicy nuggets of information. Infotainment if you add the picture into the mix. Don't let this week end, it's been so cool.
Ciao love!

Scarlet x

Anonymous said...

Well, I have had a good History lessom today.
I was one of those whom thought that the oldest parliament was from Iceland.

Olivier said...

traduction trop complique pour mon pauvre anglais. j'aime bien la fleur et le format que tu as choisi pour cette photo.

Translation too complicated for my poor English. I like the flower and format that you have chosen for this photo.

Anonymous said...

Gorse and heather always remind me of the Island - ooh and fuchsia.

laxeylass said...

More manx history. So much I have forgotten. Thanx!

Gordon said...

An interesting and informative post. I have just caught up on your 'Viking series'; thanks for the effort you have put into it.

Dragonstar said...

Fascinating to learn so much about Tynwald. Man should choose an official flower, and I don't think they could do better than Gorse - it smells of hot summers to me!

Rune Eide said...

Another very interesting post. It sounds like the Tynwald followed the common rules implemented in the original Norse territories (Gulating) in the Western part of Norway is perhaps the best known). I know that the Tynwald still has some functions today. It would be interesting to know how these relate to the Parliament and Government in London.

I did not recognise the Ragwort, but after a bit of Googling, I found that it is called Landøydna (which I suppose means "Destroyers of land") in Norway, and the disease that it gives to the cattle is called "Sirasyken" - a word that was supposed to be known world-wide.

Hats off to you for this series!

Unknown said...

Today`s dose with great history :-)
Great shot of the yellow Ragwort too.
Thanks again for sharing this.

Kyanite said...

Don't think because I haven't commented, I haven't been reading & viewing - even if todays last two images REFUSE to show however maytimes I try!!!

Would you believe I actually wrote a school prodject on the IoM! It was part of my CSE Geograpghy - OK - that really date me, quitting now!

Blue

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your visit to my blog Brookville Daily Photo this morning. I hope you enjoyed my post today showing the honey bee and the hollyhock flower.

I saw a special last night about the disappearance of honey bees and it is sad to think that most of the fruit, nuts and vegetables we eat would disappear with them. So governments are busy trying to find the culprit before it is too late and one huge problem is the use of insecticides.

Anyway, I wanted you to know I was here to repay your visit and comment with one of my own. Kind of like "Kilroy" was here... remember those drawings everyone used to make?

I enjoyed reading your blog post for today and I thought the photography was good too. I never heard of the plant you talked about but then there is so much to learn and each country seems to have their own problem flowers, bushes, trees and shrubs. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

What you going to do for your ABC thingy though? Fab. posts. Got me thinking about the Celts.

Jacqui x

Knoxville Girl said...

I was wondering how you were going to connect the flower photo to the Viking Lesson for today. Excellent post.

Livio Bonino said...

Thanks for your Viking history lesson, I found it very interesting.

David said...

Babooshka, thanks for your visit to David's Digital Art. I love the vivid colors in your photos. The Cushag is a beautiful flower.

Anonymous said...

We vikings ruled the world. Thanks for the neat education.

George Townboy said...

This is great! Love learning the history of your island.

magiceye said...

Tynwald, the oldest working parliament in the world.
Didnt know that! Great!
Such a wonderful learning experience!

Profile Not Available said...

Beautiful flowers. Interesting history of the Tynwald. How far back are the records maintained?

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful picture! And I think it's so much better cropped like that.

And again, thanks for taking the time to give us such a well-researched history - don't you just love the internet, I'm learning so much!

Eki said...

I've had a great time visiting your blog. I'll put in on my blogroll and fave you on my technorati. So that I can visit you every now and then.

Greetings from Bandung.

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