The PrEsiding One
A further clue to Forseti's nature lies in His name, which means "Presiding One," Chairman," or "Fore-sitter."
In modern Icelandic, Forseti means "President." Compare Stjórnarskrá Lýðveldisins Íslands, available at http://www.snerpa.is/net/log/stjornar.htm with Government Offices of Iceland, Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, available at http://www.government.is/constitution/.
However, another source notes that the name may have once indicated a peacemaker: "in 1793... the chairman is called for-maor or forstódu-maor, as forseti was not then an established word." See Guðbrandur Vigfússon, An Icelandic-English Dictionary: Based on the Ms. Collections of the Late Richard Cleasby 166 (1874), available at http://books.google.com/books/reader?id=RnEJAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA166.
As with the Icelandic word sakir, another cognate exists here too. In modern West Frisian, for example, foarsitter is the word for a chairperson, president, or administrator. See, e.g., Philip M. Marker, Ph.D., Webster's Frisian-English Thesaurus Dictionary 85 (2008).
In modern Icelandic, Forseti means "President." Compare Stjórnarskrá Lýðveldisins Íslands, available at http://www.snerpa.is/net/log/stjornar.htm with Government Offices of Iceland, Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, available at http://www.government.is/constitution/.
However, another source notes that the name may have once indicated a peacemaker: "in 1793... the chairman is called for-maor or forstódu-maor, as forseti was not then an established word." See Guðbrandur Vigfússon, An Icelandic-English Dictionary: Based on the Ms. Collections of the Late Richard Cleasby 166 (1874), available at http://books.google.com/books/reader?id=RnEJAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA166.
As with the Icelandic word sakir, another cognate exists here too. In modern West Frisian, for example, foarsitter is the word for a chairperson, president, or administrator. See, e.g., Philip M. Marker, Ph.D., Webster's Frisian-English Thesaurus Dictionary 85 (2008).