Disting, a Thing to/for the Disir, is celebrated two full moons after the first day of Yule. Dr. Andreas Nordberg: “The pre-Christian Yule feast occurs at the first full moon after the first new moon following the winter solstice, while the disting took place at the third full moon according to the same method of calculation.” (Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning Kalendrar och kalendariska riter i det förkristna Norden Uppsala 2006, P.4) We have a couple key historical references to the Old Saxon Althing at Marklo. The most important source is the Lebuini Antiqua, which makes clear that the Saxons held an Althing once a year at Marklo. The passage is long, but I shall place it here, using blue to highlight facts about the Saxon Althing, as well as my notes on the passage in light font.
Lebuini Antiqua 4, THE LIFE OF ST. LEBUIN, 9th Century
Vita Lebuini Antiqua, edited by A. Hofmeister, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores (x926-34), vol. xxx, 2, pp. 789-95.
“The Lord Himself admonished St. Lebuin to forsake his country and to preach to the Saxons across the sea and told him to instruct the people who dwelt in the lands of the Franks and Saxons near the river Isel… In olden times the Saxons had no king but appointed rulers over each village; and their custom was to hold a general meeting once a year in the center of Saxony near the river Weser at a place called Marklo. There all the leaders used to gather, and they were joined by twelve noblemen from each village with as many freedmen and serfs. There they confirmed the laws, gave judgment on outstanding cases and by common consent drew up plans for the coming year on which they could act either in peace or war. Folcbert, whom we have already mentioned, had a son named Helco, who was to set out with the other youths for the meeting. One morning, whilst he was speaking to his son, he said, among other things: “I feel anxious about Wine" - for this is what he used to call Lebuin – (Robert Sass adds: “Leb-uuin” means “lovely wine”) "and I am afraid that if he meets with those who hate him they will either kill him or drag him to the meeting place and have him killed there." Whilst he was still speaking, the dogs began barking in the hall and growling at someone coming in. The young man Helco went to the door to see who it was and there he found Lebuin trying to ward off the dogs with his stick. He ran up to him and, driving the dogs away, brought him with joy to his father. After they had greeted each other and sat down, Folcbert said to the man of God: "You have just come at the right time, my dear Wine, for I wanted to see you and have a few words with you. Where do you intend to go now?" The man of God said: "I am going to the meeting of the Saxons." Folcbert said: "You are on friendly terms with many of us, dear Wine, and what you say gives pleasure even to me. But I hear that there are many insolent young fellows who insult and threaten you. Listen to me and be on your guard against them. Do not go to the meeting but return home to your friend Davo. For once the meeting is over you may go about with less danger and then you can come here in safety, and we shall listen to your words with very immense pleasure." The man of God replied: "I must not fail to be present at this meeting, for Christ himself has commanded me to make known his words to the Saxons." Folcbert said: "You will not get away." He answered: “I shall escape easily enough, for He who sent me will be my aid." Since he could not persuade him, he sent him away. When the day of the meeting came around, all the leaders were present, as were others whose duty it was to attend. Then, when they had gathered, they first offered up prayers to their gods, as is their custom, asking them to protect their country and to guide them in making decrees both useful to themselves and pleasing to the gods. Then when a circle had been formed, they began the discussions. Suddenly Lebuin appeared in the middle of the circle, clothed in his priestly garments, bearing a cross in his hands and a copy of the Gospels in the crook of his arm. Raising his voice, he said: "Listen to me. I am the messenger of Almighty God and to you Saxons I bring his command." Astonished at his words and at his unusual appearance, a hush fell upon the assembly. The man of God then followed up his announcement with these words: "The God of heaven and ruler of the world and His Son, Jesus Christ, command me to tell you that if you are willing to be and to do what His servants tell you, He will confer benefits upon you such as you have never heard of before." Then he added: "As you have never had a king over you before this time, so no king will prevail against you and subject you to his domination. But if you are unwilling to accept God's commands, a king has been prepared nearby who will invade your lands, spoil and lay them waste and sap away your strength in war; he will lead you into exile, deprive you of your inheritance, slay you with the sword, and hand over your possessions to whom he has a mind: and afterwards you will be slaves both to him and his successors." At this they could no longer hold their tongue and cried out in a loud voice: "This is the wandering charlatan who goes about the country preaching wild, fantastic nonsense. Catch him and stone him to death." (Robert Sass adds: Stoning was not a Saxon method of execution. This story contains myth.) Despite the efforts of the wiser among them to prevent it, the mob ran to the fence close by, wrenched stakes from it, pared and sharpened them and threw them, trying to transfix him. But suddenly he was no longer there. Then, all of them, both those who had been put to confusion and those who had tried to control them, condemned their action as unjust, and one of them, a speaker named Buto, climbed on to the trunk of a tree and addressed them as follows: "All you who have any sense of justice, listen to what I have to say. When the Normans, Slavs, and Frisians or any other people send messengers to us we receive them peacefully and listen with courtesy to what they have to say. But now, when a messenger of God comes to us, look at the insults we pour upon him! The ease with which he escaped from our hands ought to prove to you that he spoke the truth and that the threats he uttered will not be long in happening." (Robert Sass adds: This is not true history. The reference to the Normans proves this was myth, as the word "Normans" in the passage gives us a clue this passage was written in the early 10th century. I doubt the Saxons would have used the term "Normans" before Widukind's time in the 8th century. Lebuin was sent by Charlemagne to the Saxon Althing in the year 772 CE.) Moved by regret at what they had done, they decided that the messenger of God should go unharmed if he appeared again and that he should be allowed to travel where he pleased. Then, after this decision had been reached, they continued with the business they had in hand. St. Lebuin, therefore, went about wherever the Spirit of God led him, persevering in the work of God until he gave back his soul to its Creator.”
What do we learn from this passage: 1. Bede, and Lebuin, both claim that the Saxons did not have kings. 2. The Saxons had an Althing annually at Marklo, in central Saxony along the river Weser. 3. There were about 100 different Saxon Gau (The Old English equivalent would be "shire") which sent 36 men, twelve from each class. The Althing therefore would have had around 3,600 people. (Which means that Charlemagne beheaded more Saxons at the Massacre of Verden than were sent to Thing). 4. Thing was clearly democratic, with all three classes with equal representation, despite the fact that the nobles were the smallest caste, less than 1% of the population, they had 1/3 representation at Thing. 5. Thing was in a circle. 6. Thing opened with Prayers to the Gods, which was called "their customs" (odd, as Christians open everything with prayer...) 7. The Gods were considered present at this decision making. 8. No indication of time is given, with the exception of "coming year." Therefore, one can argue that the Saxon Disting would have aligned itself along with the Disablot of Winter Nights. However, war season was after Winter, so one could argue that once winter was nearing its end a full moon before Sigrblot, the Saxons would have had their Althing at Marklo as this was an ideal time to discuss war, before the time of war in the season of summer.
Conclusion
I think we can only have two theories on when the Saxon Marklo Althing: at the start of the year in conjunction with Winter Nights, or at the same time as the Swedes to the North (Disting), as the Germanic Tribes shared many common customs, like Yule, Winter Nights, Sigrblot, etc. I personally lean towards the Saxon Althing being at the time of the Swedish Disting. This being said, later writings, like Lebuini Antiqua 4, THE LIFE OF ST. LEBUIN, often dated to the 9th Century CE (but could have been written in the 10th century, based on clues in the text), were written later, by christians, when the Old Customs were already being lost.
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