Cleasby Vigfusson also gives þáttr as meaning 'single strand of a rope', which is good general definition for the concept.

 

The þáttir we are most common with are the short stories intertwined into works such as Heimskringla - like little strands in a long rope.

Also one actual law could be seens as one stand of the rope called the law.

One strand, one division, one section, one snippet of story, one law.

 

Cheers

Stuntie.

 

******Many thanks for the reply Stuntie,

 

I wonder then, if it could be considered in any way related to the Old English þeaw – ‘custom, habit, way’ and Old Saxon thau – ‘custom’?  Carl Buck (A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages) gives siðr – ‘custom’, as the direct cognate.

 

-Alfta