Shortly after the discovery of Iceland by the Scandinavian, c. 850 (it
had long been inhabited by a small colony of Irish Culdees), a stream of
immigration set in towards it, which lasted for sixty years, and
resulted in the establishment of some 4000 homesteads. In this
immigration three distinct streams can be traced. (1) About 870-890 four
great noblemen from Norway, Ingolf, Ketil Hæng, Skalla-Grim and Thorolf,
settled with their dependants in the south-west of the new found land.
(2) In 890-900 there came from the western Islands Queen Aud, widow of
Olaf the White, king of Dublin, preceded and followed by a number of her
kinsmen and relations (many like herself being Christians), Helgi
Biolan, Biorn the Eastern, Helgi the Lean, Ketil the Foolish, &c., who
settled the best land in the island (west, north-west and north), and
founded families who long swayed its destinies. There also came from the
Western Islands a fellowship of vikings seeking a free home in the
north. They had colonized the west in the viking times; they had "fought
at Hafursfirth," helping their stay-at-home kinsmen against the
centralization of the great head-king, who, when he had crushed
opposition in Norway, followed up his victory by compelling them to flee
or bow to his rule. Such were Ingimund the Old, Geirmund Hellskin, Thord
Beardie (who had wed St. Edmund's granddaughter,) Audun Shackle,
Bryniulf the Old, Uni, to whom Harold promised the earldom of the new
land if he could make the settlers acknowledge him as king (a hopeless
project), and others by whom the north-west, north and east were almost
completely "claimed." (3) In 900-930 a few more incomers direct from
Norway completed the settlement of the south, north-east and south-east.
Among them were Earl Hrollaug (half-brother of Hrolf Ganger and of the
first earl of Orkney), Hialti, Hrafnkell Frey's priest, and the sons of
Asbiorn. Fully three-quarters of the land was settled from the west, and
among these immigrants there was no small proportion of Irish blood. In
1100 there were 4500 franklins, i.e. about 50,000 souls.
_Table of Icelandic Literature and History._
+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| | I. _The Commonwealth. 400 years._ |
| Heroic | | |
| Age. | | |
| | | |
| 870- 930 |Poetry of Western Islands. |Settlement by colonists from Western |
| | | Isles and Norway. |
| 930- 980 |Early Icelandic poets, |Constitution worked out--Events of |
| | chiefly abroad. | earlier sagas take place. |
| 980-1030 |Icelandic poets abroad. |Christianity comes in--Events of |
+------------+ | later sagas take place. |
| Saga | | |
| Telling. | | |
| | | |
| 1030-1100 |_First era of phonetic |Peace--Ecclesiastical organization. |
| | change._ | |
+------------+ | |
| The | | |
| Literary | | |
| Age. | | |
| | | |
| 1100-1150 |ARI and his school-- | |
| | THORODD--Vernacular | |
| | writing begins. | |
| 1150-1220 |SAGA-WRITERS--Second |First civil wars--1208-22--Rise of |
| | generation of historians.| Sturlungs. |
| 1220-1248 |SNORRI and his |Second civil wars, 1226-58--Fall |
| | school--Biographers. | of Great Houses. |
| 1248-1284 |STURLA--_Second era of |Change of law, 1271--Submission to |
| | phonetic change._ | Norwegian kings. |
+------------+ | |
| | II. _Medievalism. 250 years._ |
| | | |
|Continental | | |
| Influence | | |
| chiefly | | |
| Norse. | | |
| | | |
| 1284-1320 |Collecting and editing-- |Foreign influence through Norway. |
| | Foreign romances. | |
| 1320-1390 |Annalists--Copyists--New |Great eruptions, 1362 and |
| | Medieval poetry begins. | 1389--Epidemics--Danish rule, 1380.|
| 1390-1413 |Death of old |Epidemics--Norse trade--Close of |
| | traditions, &c. | intercourse with Norway. |
+------------+ | |
| Dark Age. | | |
| | | |
| 1413-1530 |Only Medieval poetry |Isolation from |
| | flourishes. | Continent--English trade. |
+------------+ | |
| | III. _Reformation--Absolute Rule--Decay. 320 years._ |
| | | |
|Reformation.| | |
| | | |
| 1530-1575 |ODD--Printing--_Third era |Religious struggle--New |
| | of phonetic change._ | organization--Hanse trade |
+------------+ | |
|Renaissance.| | |
| | | |
| 1575-1640 |First antiquarians. |Danish monopoly--Pirates' ravages. |
| 1640-1700 |HALLGRIM--Paper copies | |
| | taken. | |
+------------+ | |
| Gradual | | |
| Decay. | | |
| | | |
| 1700-1730 |JON VIDALIN--Arni |I D / Smallpox kills one-third |
| | Magnusson--MSS. taken |n e | population, 1707. |
| | abroad. |c c | Great famine, 10,000 die, |
| 1730-1768 |Eggert Olafsson. |r a | 1759--Sheep plague, |
| | |e y < 1762--Eruption, 1765 |
| 1768-1800 |Finn Jonsson--Icelandic |a . | Great eruption, 1783. |
| | scholars abroad. |s | Beginnings of recovery-- |
| 1800-1850 |Rationalistic |i | Travellers make known island|
| | movement--European |n | to Europe--Free constitution|
| | influences first felt. |g \ in Denmark, 1848. |
+------------+ | |
| | IV. _Modern Iceland._ |
| | | |
|Recovery of | | |
| Iceland. | | |
| | | |
| 1850-1874 |Modern thought and |Increasing wealth and population-- |
| | learning--Icelandic | Free trade, 1854--Jon Sigurdsson |
| | scholars abroad | and home rule struggle. |
| 1874 | |Home rule granted. |
+------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Organization.
The unit of Icelandic politics was the homestead with its franklin-owner
(_buendi_), its primal organization the hundred-moot (_thing_), its tie
the goðorð (godar) or chieftainship. The chief who had led a band of
kinsmen and dependants to the new land, taken a "claim" there, and
parcelled it out among them, naturally became their leader, presiding as
priest at the temple feasts and sacrifices of heathen times, acting as
speaker of their moot, and as their representative towards the
neighbouring chiefs. He was not a feudal lord nor a local sheriff, for
any franklin could change his goðorð when he would, and the rights of
"judgment by peers" were in full use; moreover, the office could be
bequeathed, sold, divided or pledged by the possessor; still the goði
had considerable power as long as the commonwealth lasted.
Disputes between neighbouring chiefs and their clients, and uncertainty
as to the law, brought about the _Constitution of Ulfliot_ (c. 930),
which appointed a central moot for the whole island, the Althing, and a
speaker to speak a single "law" (principally that followed by the
Gula-moot in Norway); the _Reforms of Thord Gellir_ (964), settling a
fixed number of moots and chieftaincies, dividing the island into four
quarters (thus characterized by Ari: north, thickest settled, most
famous; east, first completely settled; south, best land and greatest
chiefs; west, remarkable for noble families), to each of which a
head-court, the "quarter-court," was assigned; and the _Innovations of
Skapti_ (ascribed in the saga to Nial) _the Law-Speaker_ (d. 1030), who
set up a "fifth court" as the ultimate tribunal in criminal matters, and
strengthened the community against the chiefs. But here constitutional
growth ceased: the law-making body made few and unimportant
modifications of custom; the courts were still too weak for the chiefs
who misused and defied them; the speaker's power was not sufficiently
supported to enable him to be any more than a highly respected lord
chief justice, whereas he ought to have become a justiza if anarchy was
to be avoided; even the ecclesiastical innovations, while they secured
peace for a time, provoked in the end the struggles which put an end to
the commonwealth.
Christianity was introduced c. 1000. Tithes were established in 1096,
and an ecclesiastical code made c. 1125. The first disputes about the
jurisdiction of the clergy were moved by Gudmund in the 13th century,
bringing on a civil war, while the questions of patronage and rights
over glebe and mortmainland occupied Bishop Arni and his adversaries
fifty years afterwards, when the land was under Norwegian viceroys and
Norwegian law. For the civil wars broke down the great houses who had
monopolized the chieftaincies; and after violent struggles (in which the
Sturlungs of the first generation perished at Orlygstad, 1238, and
Reykiaholt, 1241, while of the second generation Thord Kakali was called
away by the king in 1250, and Thorgils Skardi slain in 1258) the
submission of the island to Norway quarter after quarter, took place in
1262-1264, under Gizur's auspices, and the old Common Law was replaced
by the New Norse Code "Ironside" in 1271.
The political life and law of the old days is abundantly illustrated in
the sagas (especially Eyrbyggia, Hamsa-Thori, Reykdæla, Hrafnkell, and
Niala), the two collections of law-scrolls (_Codex Regius_, c. 1235, and
_Stadarhol's Book_, c. 1271), the Libellus, the Liberfragments, and the
Landnamabók of Ari, and the Diplomatarium. K. Maurer has made the
subject his own in his _Beiträge, Island, Grágás_, &c.
The medieval Icelandic church had two bishoprics, Skalholt (S., W., and
E.) 1056, and Holar (N.) 1106, and about 175 parishes (two-thirds of
which belonged to the southern bishopric). They belonged to the
metropolitan see of Bremen, then to Lund, lastly to Nidaros, 1237. There
were several religious foundations: Thingore (founded 1133), Thwera
(1155), Hitardale (c. 1166), Kirkby Nunnery (1184), Stad Nunnery (1296),
and Saurby (c. 1200) were Benedictine, while Ver (1168), Flatey after
Holyfell (1172), Videy (1226), Madderfield Priory (1296), and Skrid
Priory (14th century) were Augustinian. The bishops, elected by the
people at the Althing till 1237, enjoyed considerable power; two,
Thorlak of Skalholt and John of Holar, were publicly voted saints at the
Althing, and one, Gudmund, received the title of "Good" by decree of the
bishop and chapter. Full details as to ecclesiastical history will be
found in the _Biskupasögur_ (edited by Dr Vigfusson).
Mode of life.
Iceland was not agricultural but pastoral, depending upon flocks Mode of
and herds for subsistence, for, though rye and other grain would grow in
favoured localities, the hay, self-sown, was the only regular crop. In
some districts the fisheries and fowling were of importance, but
nine-tenths of the population lived by their sheep and cattle. Life on
each homestead was regularly portioned out: out door occupations--fishing,
shepherding, fowling, and the hay-making and fuel-gathering--occupying the
summer; while indoor business--weaving, tool-making, &c.--filled up the
long winter. The year was broken by the spring feasts and moots, the great
Althing meeting at midsummer, the marriage and arval gatherings after the
summer, and the long yule feasts at midwinter. There were but two degrees
of men, free and unfree, though only the franklins had any political
power; and, from the nature of the life, social intercourse was
unrestrained and unfettered; goði and thrall lived the same lives, ate the
same food, spoke the same tongue, and differed little in clothing or
habits. The thrall had a house of his own and was rather villein or serf
than slave, having rights and a legal price by law. During the heathen
days many great chiefs passed part of their lives in Norway at the king's
court, but after the establishment of Christianity in Iceland they kept
more at home, visiting the continent, however, for purposes of state,
suits with clergy, &c. Trade was from the first almost entirely in foreign
(Norse) hands.
The introduction of a church system brought little change. The great
families put their members into orders, and so continued to enjoy the
profits of the land which they had given to the church; the priests
married and otherwise behaved like the franklins around them in everyday
matters, farming, trading, going to law like laymen.
Effects of the Union.
Life in the commonwealth was turbulent and anarchic, but free and
varied; it produced men of mark, and fostered bravery, adventure and
progress. But on the union with Norway all this ceased, and there was
left but a low dead level of poor peasant proprietors careless of all
save how to live by as little labour as possible, and pay as few taxes
as they could to their foreign rulers. The island received a foreign
governor (_Earl_, _Hirdstjori_ or _Stiptamtsmadr_ as he was successively
called), and was parcelled out into counties (_sýslur_), administered by
sheriffs (_sýslumadr_) appointed by the king. A royal court took the
place of the Althing courts; the local business of the local things was
carried out by the (_hreppstjóri_) bailiff, a subordinate of the
sheriff; and the goðorð, things, quarter-courts, trial by jury, &c.,
were swept away by these innovations. The power of the crown was
increased by the confiscation of the great Sturlung estates, which were
underleased to farmers, while the early falling off of the Norse trade
threatened to deprive the island of the means of existence; for the
great epidemics and eruptions of the 14th century had gravely attacked
its pastoral wealth and ruined much of its pasture and fishery.
The union of the Three Crowns transferred the practical rule of Iceland
to Denmark in 1280, and the old Treaty of Union, by which the island had
reserved its essential rights, was disregarded by the absolute Danish
monarchs; but, though new taxation was imposed, it was rather their
careless neglect than their too active interference that damaged
Iceland's interests. But for an English trade, which sprang up out of
the half-smuggling, half-buccaneering enterprise of the Bristol
merchants, the island would have fared badly, for during the whole of
the 15th century their trade with England, exporting sulphur, eiderdown
(of which the English taught them the value), wool, and salt stock-fish,
and importing as before wood, iron, honey, wine, grain and flax goods,
was their only link with the outer world. This period of Iceland's
existence is eventless: she had got peace but with few of its blessings;
all spirit seemed to have died with the commonwealth; even shepherding
and such agriculture as there had been sank to a lower stage; wagons,
ploughs and carts went out of use and knowledge; architecture in timber
became a lost art, and the fine carved and painted halls of the heathen
days were replaced by turf-walled barns half sunk in the earth; the
large decked luggers of the old days gave way to small undecked
fishing-boats.
The Reformation.
The Reformation in Iceland wakened men's minds, but it left their
circumstances little changed. Though the fires of martyrdom were never
lighted in Iceland, the story of the easily accepted Reformation is not
altogether a pleasant one. When it was accomplished, the little knot of
able men who came to the front did much in preserving the records of the
past, while Odd and Hallgrim exhibit the noblest impulses of their time.
While there was this revolution in religion a social and political
revolution never came to Iceland. The Hanse trade replaced the English
for the worse; and the Danish monopoly which succeeded it when the
Danish kings began to act again with vigour was still less profitable.
The glebes and hospital lands were a fresh power in the hands of the
crown, and the subservient Lutheran clergy became the most powerful
class in the island, while the system of under-leasing at rackrent and
short lease with unsecured tenant right extended over at least a quarter
of the better land.
Decadence.
A new plague, that of the English, Gascon and Algerine pirates, marked
the close of the 16th century and opening of the 17th, causing
widespread panic and some devastation in 1579, 1613-1616 and 1627.
Nothing points more to the helplessness of the natives' condition than
their powerlessness against these foes. But the 18th century is the most
gloomy in Iceland's annals. Smallpox, famine, sheep disease, and the
eruptions of 1765 and 1783 follow each other in terrible succession.
Against such visitations, which reduced the population by about a
fourth, little could be done. The few literary men, whose work was done
and whose books were published abroad, were only concerned with the
past, and Jon Vidalin is the one man of mark, beside Eggert Olafsson,
who worked and wrote for his own generation.[5]
Modern times.
Gradually the ideas which were agitating Europe spread through
Scandinavia into Iceland, and its claims were more respectfully listened
to. The continental system, which, by its leading to the blockade of
Denmark, threatened to starve Iceland, was neutralized by special action
of the British government. Trade and fishery grew a little brisker, and
at length the turn came.
The rationalistic movement, headed by Magnus Stephenson, a patriotic,
narrow-minded lawyer, did little good as far as church reform went, but
was accompanied by a more successful effort to educate the people. A
Useful Knowledge Society was formed and did some honest work. Newspapers
and periodicals were published, and the very stir which the
ecclesiastical disputes encouraged did good. When free trade came, and
when the free constitution of Denmark had produced its legitimate
effects, the endeavours of a few patriots such as Jon Sigurdsson were
able to push on the next generation a step further. Questions of a
modern political complexion arose; the cattle export controversy and the
great home rule struggle began. After thirty years' agitation home rule
was conceded in 1874 (see above, _Government_). (F. Y. P.)