Page 51 - Untamed Iceland

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eighth and ninth centuries AD. They did not remain after Norse settlers (known as Vikings)
began arriving in the latter ninth century. One of the oldest sagas, the Landnamabok or Book
of Settlements, records the history of this early era of Norse settlement in considerable detail.

Around 930 AD, the Icelanders wrote a constitution creating the Althing (Alþing in Icelandic),
which exists today as the oldest active legislative assembly in the world. The Althing met
at the natural amphitheater of Thingvellir, where local chieftains gathered annually to elect
leaders. Among the decision made there was the adoption of Christianity by Iceland in 1000
AD, notable for the fact that it took place peacefully.

The events of this early medieval era inspired many of the great Icelandic sagas, though they
were written down later (in the 13th and 14th centuries). It was late in the tenth century that
Eric the Red led settlers to Greenland, giving the ice-capped island a name intended to make it
more appealing to settlers. Faring even further, his son Leif Ericson (spelled Leifr Eiríksson in
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settled for a time at L’Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.
In Iceland itself, the eleventh and twelfth centuries were a peaceful Golden Age when the
literary tradition of the saga developed. In the early thirteenth century, the writings of Snorri
Sturluson marked the culmination of this tradition. Unfortunately, in the Sturlunga Saga, they
also chronicled the end of the era of peace as the “Age of the Sturlung” saw a descent into
clan warfare.

From the Middle Ages to the Present

Following this, Iceland fell under the rule of Norwegian King Haakon in 1262. Denmark
took control following the Kalmar union between Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in 1397,
and Iceland did not regain full independence for more than six centuries. During this era,
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imposed by Denmark hamstrung the island’s economy, and there were several intervals of
crop failures. Three hundred pirates plagued the island in 1627, kidnapping over 200 people.
Volcanic eruptions were sometimes devastating: Mount Hekla erupted in 1389, 1636, and 1693;
and Mount Laki’s 1783 eruption killed large numbers of livestock and lead to the death of
nearly 20% of the population from starvation.

The nineteenth century saw a rise of Icelandic nationalism, and the island regained freedom
of trade in 1855. From 1874 through 1918, agreements with Denmark resulted in increasing
degrees of Icelandic autonomy, with Iceland becoming a sovereign nation under the Danish
Crown in 1918. In 1944, following a referendum in which 97% of Icelanders voted to sever ties
with the Danish Crown, the establishment of the present Republic of Iceland took place in a
ceremony symbolically located at Thingvellir, site of the ancient Althing.

Iceland today is a multi-party parliamentary democracy and a member of NATO. At
the dawn of the 21st century, Iceland enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in
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economic downturn.

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