Forseti (Old Norse: Forseti, meaning ‘the presiding one’) is the god of justice and legal mediation, the son of Baldr and Nanna according to Gylfaginning. He is described there as dwelling in his hall Glitnir, whose walls are of red gold and whose roof is of silver, and as the best judge among gods and men, settling all disputes.
A figure named Fosite is mentioned in the Vita Bonifatii (Life of Boniface) in connection with a sacred island called Fositesland in Frisian territory — identified by scholars with the island of Helgoland. The account describes the island as holy to a deity named Fosite, whose spring and cattle were inviolable. If the identification of Fosite with Forseti is correct, it provides rare non-Scandinavian attestation for the deity’s cult.
The legal function implied by Forseti’s name and Snorri’s description is consistent with the importance of legal assembly and judicial process in Norse and broader Germanic society.

