history question

My bygdebok tells me that the assembly...ting... for the Alenfit skipreida met, for a long time, at the farm Nere Tveiten, and in that place there was a hill...tingstadbakken...where commoners...tingålmugen...were allowed or required to sit while the assembly acted. Who were the tingålmugen? Were these likely just onlookers or petitioners coming before the assembly, or might there have been a sort of house of commons that had some part in the decision making? Time frame: 1600s - 1700s, I think.