Folkmoot

Folkmoot, or FOLKMOOTE ('folk-meeting; 'A.S. mót, gemót, 'assembly'), was the old name in England for the public assembly of the nation for political and judicial purposes, or for collective deliberation. The old Germans had similar assemblies, as also the Scandinavians (the latter being called Ting, Althing). There were numerous local moots, such as the shiremoot, or County Court (q.v.). It cannot be said that there was in the old days a national folkmoot for all England, to which every freeman had a right to come; even the Witenagemót (q.v.) was not fully representative, but was rather a royal council of magnates.—The Moot-hall was the hall of meeting; the moot-hill, the eminence or mound on which the open-air assemblies used to be held. See VILLAGE-COMMUNITIES; and Gomme, Primitive Folkmoots or Open-air Assemblies (1880).