ABRIEFHISTORYOFICELAND

FROMVIKINGTIMESTOTODAY
ByTimLambert
VIKINGICELAND
ThefirstpeopletosettleinIcelandwereprobablyIrishmonkswhocameinthe
8thcentury.Howeverinthe9thcenturytheyweredrivenoutbyVikings.
AccordingtotraditionthefirstVikingtodiscoverIcelandwasamannamed
NaddoddurwhogotlostwhileonhiswaytotheFaeroes.FollowinghimaSwede
namedGardarSvavarssoncircumnavigatedIcelandabout860.Howeverthefirst
VikingattempttosettlewasbyaNorwegiannamedFlokiVilgeroason.Helanded
inthenorthwestbutaseverewinterkilledhisdomesticanimalsandhesailed
backtoNorway.Howeverhegavethelanditsname.HecalleditIceland.
Thenfrom874manysettlerscametoIcelandfromNorwayandtheViking
coloniesintheBritishIsles.ANorwegiannamedIngolfurArnarsonledthem.He
sailedwithhisfamily,slavesandanimals.
WhenhesightedIcelandIngolfurdedicatedhiswoodenpoststohisgodsthen
threwthemoverboard.Hevowedtosettleattheplacewheretheseawashed
themup.HethenexploredIceland.Whenthepostswerefoundinthesouthwest
ofIcelandIngolfurandhishouseholdsettledthere.HecalledtheplaceReykjavik,
meaningSmokeyBay.ManyotherVikingsfollowedhimtoIceland.
ThelandinIcelandwasfreetowhoeverwantedit.Amancouldclaimasmuch
landashecouldlightfiresaroundinonedaywhileawomancouldclaimasmuch
landasshecouldleadaheiferroundinoneday.
TherewereverygoodfishinggroundsaroundIcelandandthelandwaswell
suitedtosheep.ManyVikingsbroughtflockswiththemandsoonsheepbecame
amajorIcelandicindustry.ThepopulationofIcelandsoared.Byabout930there
wereabout60,000peoplelivinginIceland.
AtfirsttheIcelanderswereruledbychiefscalledGodarbutthereweresome
localassemblies.About930theIcelanderscreatedanassemblyforthewhole
islandcalledtheAlthing.

VikingDailyLife
ICELANDINTHEMIDDLEAGES
Inthe11thcenturytheNorwegianswereconvertedtoChristianity.TheNorwegian
kingssentmissionariestoIceland.SomeIcelandersacceptedthenewreligion
butmanywerebitterlyopposed.EventuallyamannamedThorgeir,whowasthe
LawspeakeroftheAlthing,realizedtherewaslikelytobecivilwarbetweenthe
two.HemayalsohavefearedNorwegianintervention.(TheNorwegianswere
quitepreparedto'convert'peopletoChristianitybyforce!).Hepersuadedthe
peopletoacceptacompromise.Christianitybecamethe'official'religionof
Icelandbutpaganswereallowedtoworshiptheirgodsinprivate.
From1097peopleinIcelandhadtopaytithestothechurch(inotherwordsthey
hadtopayonetenthoftheirproduce).Asaresultthechurchgrewrichand
powerful.Paganismwasstampedoutandmonasterieswerebuilt.Icelandwas
givenabishopin1056.In1106anotherbishopricwascreatedatHolarinthe
north.
Howeverin1152theIcelandicchurchcameundertheauthorityofaNorwegian
archbishop.Inthosedaysthechurchwascloselyalliedtothestate.Whenthe
IcelandicchurchbecamesubordinatetotheNorwegianchurchitmeantthe
NorwegiankingsinfluenceinIcelandslowlyincreased.
Meanwhileduringthe12thcenturyconditionsonIcelanddeteriorated.Itmay
havebeenpartlyduetoovergrazing.Theforestswerealsocutdownandthe
resultwassoilerosion.WithnowoodtobuildshipstheIcelanderswere
dependentonNorwegianmerchants.Atthattimewool,animalhides,horsesand
falconswereexportedfromIceland.Timber,honeyandmaltforbrewingwere
imported.SomeIcelandersbegantolooktothekingofNorwaytoprotecttrade.
TheIcelandiccommonwealthwasalsounderminedbyfeudingbetweenclans.
Thenin1218amannamedSnorriSturlungvisitedNorwayandagreedtosupport
theNorwegianking'sinterestsinIceland.Hereturnedhomein1220.Meanwhile
bishopswhowereborninNorwayalsosupportedtheNorwegianking'sambitions
toruleIceland.
Howeverthecommonwealthreallyendedbecauseofthefeudingbetweenclans.
TheIcelandersdesperatelywantedpeaceandtheyeventuallyrealizedtheonly
waytoobtainitwastosubmittotheNorwegianking.
Thereforein1262anagreementcalledtheAncientCovenantwasacceptedby
theAlthing.TheIcelandersagreedtopayataxofwoolenclotheachyear.In

returnthekingpromisedtoupholdlawandorderinIceland.Healsoreplacedthe
Godarwithroyalofficials.In1280anewconstitutionwasdrawnup.TheAlthing
continuedtomeetbutitsdecisionshadtoberatifiedbytheking.Furthermorethe
kingappointedagovernorand12localsheriffstorule.Meanwhileslaveryslowly
diedoutinIceland.
The14thandearly15thcenturiestroubledyearsforIceland.Intheearly14th
centurytheclimategrewcolder.Thenin140203theBlackDeathstruckIceland
andthepopulationwasdevastated.
Howeverprosperityreturnedinthe15thcentury.Atthattimetherewasabig
demandinEuropeforIcelandiccodandIcelandgrewrichonthefishingindustry.
IcelanderstradedwiththeEnglishandwiththeGermans.(Atthattimetherewas
nosingleGermannationbutGermanportswerejoinedtogetherinafederation
calledtheHanseaticLeague).
Meanwhilein1397NorwaywasunitedwithDenmark.AfterwardsIcelandwas
ruledbytheDanishcrown.
ICELAND15001800
Duringthe16thcenturyIceland,liketherestofEurope,wasrockedbythe
reformation.DenmarkbecameProtestantinthe1530sandin1539theDanish
kingorderedhismentoconfiscatethechurch'slandinIceland.Thebishopsof
Icelandresistedandin1541theDanishkingsentanexpeditiontoenforce
conformity.SkalholtwasgivenanewbishopbutthebishopofHolar,aman
namedJonAransoncontinuedtoresist.Hewasapowerfulchieftainaswellasa
bishopandhehadsoldierstofightforhim.Healsohadtwosons,byhis
concubine,whosupportedhim.In1548Aransonwasdeclaredanoutlaw.His
soldiersthencapturedtheProtestantbishopofSkalholt.Howeverin1550hewas
defeated.Aransonandhistwosonswereexecuted.
AfterwardsthepeopleofIcelandgraduallyacceptedProtestantismandin1584
theBiblewastranslatedintoIcelandic.
Howeverduringthe17thcenturytheIcelanderssufferedhardship.In1602the
kingmadealltradewithIcelandamonopolyofcertainmerchantsinCopenhagen,
MalmoandElsinore.In1619themonopolywasmadeajointstockcompany.The
monopolymeanttheIcelanderswereforcedtosellgoodstothecompanyatlow
pricesandbuysuppliesfromthemathighprices.AsaresulttheIcelandic
economysufferedseverely.

Furthermorein1661theDanishkingmadehimselfanabsolutemonarch.In1662
theIcelanderswereforcedtosubmittohim.TheAlthingcontinuedtomeetbut
hadnorealpower.Itwasreducedtobeingacourt.Worsein170709Iceland
sufferedanoutbreakofsmallpoxwhichkilledalargepartofthepopulation.
Inthemid18thcenturyamannamedSkuliMagnussonwasmadeanofficial
calledafogd.Hetriedtoimprovetheeconomybybringinginfarmersfrom
DenmarkandNorway.Healsointroducedbetterfishingvessels.Healsocreated
awoolenindustryinReykjavikwithGermanweavers.Finallyin1787the
monopolywasended.
Howeverin1783thefalloutfromvolcaniceruptionscauseddevastationin
Iceland.By1786thepopulationofIcelandwasonly38,000.Finallyin1800the
Althingclosed.Anewlawcourtreplacedit.ItsatinReykjavikwhichatthattime
wasalittlecommunityof300people.
ICELANDINTHE19THCENTURY
Inthe19thcenturytiesbetweenIcelandandDenmarkweakened.Nationalism
wasagrowingforcethroughoutEuropeincludingIceland.Onesignofthis
growingnationalismwasthewritingofthesongOGuovorslandsin1874.
In1843theDanishkingdecidedtoChristianVIIIrecalltheAlthing.Itmetagainin
1845.Howeverithadlittlepower.YetnationalistopinioninIcelandcontinuedto
growandin1874ChristianIXgrantedanewconstitution.Howeverunderitthe
Althingstillhadonlylimitedpowers.Thenin1904thepostofgovernorwas
abolishedandIcelandwasgrantedhomerule.
Meanwhile,in1854remainingrestrictionsontradewereremoved.Tradewith
Icelandwasopenedtoallnations.FurthermoreIcelandicfishingbecamemuch
moreprosperousinthelate19thcentury.Untilthenfishermenusuallyused
rowingboatsbutbytheendofthecenturytheyhadswitchedtomuchmore
effectivedeckedsailingships.
ICELANDINTHE20THCENTURY
Icelandbegantoprosperonceagain.Thepopulationrose(despiteemigrationto
Canada)andin1911ReykjavikUniversitywasfounded.
Inthe20thcenturytieswithDenmarkwereloosened.In1904Icelandwas
grantedhomerule.Thepostofgovernorwasabolished.InsteadIcelandgained
anIcelandicministerresponsibletotheAlthing.Thenin1918Icelandwasmade
asovereignstatesharingamonarchywithDenmark.

In1915Icelandicwomenwereallowedtovote.Thefirstwomanwaselectedto
theAlthingin1922.
Then,inMay1940,IcelandwasoccupiedbyBritishtroops.InMay1941the
Americansrelievedthem.Finallyin1944IcelandbrokealllinkswithDenmark
andthejointmonarchywasdissolved.
In1947MountHeklaeruptedcausingmuchdestructionbutIcelandsoon
recoveredandin1949IcelandjoinedNATO.
Inthelate20thcenturyIcelandhadaseriesof'codwars'withBritain.Iceland
reliedonitsfishingindustryandgrewalarmedthattheBritishwereoverfishingits
waters.The'codwars'were'fought'in19591961,1972andin19751976.
In1980VigdsFinnbogadttirwaselectedpresidentofIceland.Shewasthefirst
electedwomanpresidentintheworld.
ICELANDINTHE21STCENTURY
ThepeopleofIcelandbenefitfromnaturalhotwater,whichisusedtoheattheir
homes.Itisalsousedtoheatgreenhouses.
InMarch2006theUSAannounceditwaswithdrawingitsarmedforcesfrom
Iceland.
Thenin2008Icelandsufferedaneconomiccrisiswhenits3mainbanksfailed.In
2009demonstrationsledtothefallofthegovernment.
TodayIcelandstillreliesonfishingbuttherearemanysheep,cattleandIcelandic
ponies.Icelandsufferedbadlyintheworldfinancialcrisisthatbeganin2008and
unemploymentrosetoover9%.HoweverIcelandsoonrecoveredand
unemploymentfell.
TodayIcelandisaprosperouscountrywithahighstandardofliving.Todaythe
populationofIcelandis331,000.
AtimelineofIceland
AbriefhistoryofDenmark
AbriefhistoryofNorway
AbriefhistoryofGreenland

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