The Thing

[snyders]

A thing or ting (Old Norse and Icelandic: þing; other modern Scandinavian: ting) was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free men of the community and presided by lawspeakers. Today the term lives on in the official names of national legislatures, political and judicial institutions in the North-Germanic countries. The English word 'thing', meaning "object" is also derived from this; the evolution having been roughly "assembly" → "court" → "case" → "business" → "purpose" → "object".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_%28assembly%29

Новгородское вече -- это скандинавская традиция.