Heimskringla - 07.07.1937, Blaðsíða 2

2. SÍÐA
HEIMSKRINCLA
WINNIPEG, 7. JÚLÍ 1937
ADDRESS
Delivered at Swift Current, Sask.
at the Norse Convention,
June 25, 1937, by
Thorvaldur Pétursson
on behalf of the Icelandic
National League.
Mr. Chairman:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am highly honored in being
chosen to bring you the felicita-
tions of the Icelandic National
League on this occasion. On
behalf of that body, I thank the
executive committee of the
Norse Convention for the kind
invitation which it extended to
the League. I assure you, that
we of the Icelandic National
League, whose aim it is to foster
the cultural traditions of our
people in this Dominion and to
strengthen the ties of kinship
with the people of Iceland.
are impressed by the signifi-
cance of these Norse Conven-
tions for the strengthening of
ties of friendship between the
Scandinavian communities in
Canada and the United States.
We wish the League of Norse-
men continued success with their
conventions, and hope that the
Icelandic people in Canada may
be able to take an increasing
share in them in the future.
My address this afternoon,
which bears the imposing title,
“The Norse Settlement of Ice-
land and the Development of the
Icelandic Commonwealth”, must
be limited to a brief outline of
the subject. Because my time
is short, I must omit naming all
thq sources from which my
material is drawn, but I assure
you they are unimpeachable, and
I have endeavored to quote them
correctly.
The study of Icelandic history
and literature, and the Norse an-
tiquities preserved in the Eddas
and the Sagas should be of deep
concern to every Scandinavian,
while the story of Iceland in par-
ticular, should interest Norweg-
ians, for Iceland is the most re-
markable settlement ever made
by the Norsemen, for many rea-
sons. The Icelanders, mainly of
Norwegian descent, established
an independent nation, with a
culture which grew out of the
old Norse culture. They have
preserved the language as it
was spoken in the Viking
Age to a marked degree; and
they compiled the most complete* 1
and ample records which exist
concerning the Scandinavian;
peoples, in the Eddas and the
Sagas, without which the |
Scándinavians would have but a'
hazy and fragmentary know-
ledge of the traditions and an-
cient culture of their race, and
the important part played by the
Norsemen in the evolution of
Western civilization.
~Historians have pointed out,
that the Norse migrations to the
mainland of Europe were due
not only to the adventurous nat-
ure of the Norsemen, their un-
ceasing urge to wander the
world over in search of fame and
fortune, but also were they due
to the pressure of over-popula-
tion in the Scandinavian penin-
sula. Because the land in which
they lived could not support
them, the most adventurous, en-
terprising and courageous
among the Norsemen sought
distant shores. These migra-
tions had gone on for centuries
before the discovery of Iceland.
The Norsemen (the Swedes and
Danes, too) overran Europe. —
The Swedes went East, through
what is now the United Soviet of
Socialist Republics (Russia). —
They founded the first Russian
kingdom; the name Russia is
drawn from the word Russ,
which was applied to the invad-
ing Swedes by the native popu-
lation. The Norwegians sailed
West, to the British Isles, Ire-
land, France and Italy. Ancient
í records reveal the Norsemen
! went south as far as Palestine.
Everywhere they came as con-
querors at first, but in a com-
paratively short time they were
assimilated and lost their ident-
ity as pure Norsemen. Histori-
cally, the most important ex-
ample of this assimilation is
found in the case of Normandy.
Thousands of Norsemen settled
in that part of France, founded
a kingdom and then were assimi-
lated. Later, in the eleventh
century, their descendants, cal-
; led Normans, crossed into Eng-
! land, where Norsemen in large
' numbers had settled for genera-
! tions before the Norman Con-
quest.
As I have said, the Norsemen
sought land to the West, and
therefore it was only a matter
of time until they discovered
Iceland. And so it was, for they
reached Iceland between 850—
860 A. D. The discovery and
settlement of Iceland may be
said to date from 860 or 861,
when Naddod, a Norwegian Vik-
ing, reached the island. His voy-
age of discovery is thus describ-
ed in Landnáma, the Icelandic
Book of Settlement:
“It is said that some men
were going from Norway to the
Faroes. Some say it was Nad-
dod the Viking. They were driv-
en westward into the sea, and
F EDERA L í
Vér bjóSum bændum meS ánægju j ^ 1 1 í (

aS heimsækja kornlyftur vorar og í
j ráSfæra sig við umboSsmenn vora um hveitisölumál þeirra.
Federal Grain Limited
WINNIPEG - CALGARY - FORT WILLIAM

FERÐIST TIL UTLANDA í ÁR
Islendingar sem ferðast hafa að mun hafa sannfærst um að
þægindi, þjónusta og viðurgemingur á öllum skipum
Canadian Pacific er íangt fram yfir það sem þeir hefðu
gelað gert sér,hinar glæsilegustu vonir með.
BEINT SAMBAND VIÐ ÍSLAND
Hin stóru og hraðskreiðu skip Canadian Pacific félagsins
veita ágæta ferð beint til Keykjavíkur yfir Skotland.
Fastar siglingar frá Montreal í hverri viku.
Fáið yður fullkomnar upplýsingar hjá næsta umboðsmanni eða
W. C. CASEY, Steamship General Passenger Agent, C. P. R. Bldg.,
Winnipeg. Símar 92 456—7.
G&naJliaM. Qouáfyc SQeiOMiAtúpb
there found a large land. They
went up on a high mountain in
the Eastern fjords, and looked
far and wide for smoke or some
token that the land was inhabit-
ed. They saw none. They went
back to the Faroes in the autumn
and when they set sail much
snow fell on the mountains and
therefore they called the coun-
try Snæland (Snowland). They
praised the land much.”
The next man said to have
reached the land was Hrafna-
Flóki, in 867 A.D., who called
the country Iceland. But the
first settler was Ingólfur Arna-
son, (in 874 A.D.) and the Ice-
landers look on him as “the fath-
er of his country”, so to speak.
His voyage is thus described in
Landnáma:
“The foster-brothers (Ingólf-
ur and Leifur) made ready a
large ship which they owned,
and went in search of the land
Hrafna-Flóki had discovereú,
which was then called Iceland.
They found land and stayed in
the Eastern fjords, in the south-
ern Alptafjord. The south of
the land seemed better to them
than the north. They stayed one
winter there, and then went back
to Norway.”
Ingólfur returned the follow-
ing year and made the first
permanent settlement in Iceland.
In passing, I must mention the
discovery of Iceland by Gardar
: Svavarson, a Swede, who sailed
j from Norway at the behest of
his mother in search of Snæ-
; land. His voyage was success-
ful. He called the land Gardars-
holm (Gardar Island) and on his
return to Norway he praised the
land highly.
Within a period of 60 years,
Iceland was colonized. Some
4000 homesteads were e^tablish-
ed, and by 1100 A. D. the popula-
tion numbered around 50,000
, souls. Three distinct streams of
! immigration can be traced dur-
ing the Colonization period.
(1) From 874—890, four
noblemen from Norway, Ingólf-
| ur Arnason, Ketil Hæng, Skalla-
' Grímur and Thorolfur' Mostrar-
skegg, with their followers and
slaves, settled in the south-west.
(2) Between 890-^-900, Auð-
ur the Wise, an Irish queen,
widow of King Olaf the White of
Dublin, preceeded and followed
by many of her kinsmen came
to Iceland. Some of these set-
tlers, like Auður, were Christ-
ians. A numerous band of Vik-
ings from the Western Isles also
settled in Iceland during this
decade.
(3) From 900—930, the set-
tlement was completed from
Norway.
At this point, it is interesting
to recall the reasons advanced
by historians for the settlement
from Norway. I have already
mentioned that the Vikings left
Norway due to overcrowding at
home. But another, and more
important cause led to the set-
tlment of Iceland. At the time
Iceland was discovered, the poli-
tical situation in Norway was
chaotic. Harald, called the Fair-
Haired, a petty king, vowed to
unite all Norway under his rule.
As we know, he succeeded and
laid the foundation of the mod
ern Norwegian state. — His
enemies had but one of two
courses open to them—to sub-
mit, or to leave the country, if
they wished to save their lives.
Many earls and chieftans fled
to the Western Isles; to Britain,
Ireland and Normandy, where
their kinsmen were already
firmly established.
But there were still other
nobles who could not bear to
submit to Harald, nor to settle
in a foreign land. These men
chose freedom and danger in an
unknown land to slavery and
security at home. In seeking
Iceland, they found the haven
they desired. In a country
which was uninhabited, they
could live as they had done in the
good days before Harald deter-
mined to conquer aR Norway.
These chieftans were men of no
ordinary stripe. They left wealth
and power and kinsmen behind,
because their love of their tra-
ditions, religion and customs,
and above all, their fierce pride
in their own independence, was
so deep that they could not bear
the thought of submitting to tha
rule of any one man in their own
country, or assimilation in an-
other land, even in those parts
where their kinsmen held sway.
The settlement of Iceland re-
sulted, then, from the strongest
urge in the Norsemen, the urge
to independence and freedom of
action.
In Iceland, as nowhere else be-
fore or since, the genius of the
Norse people for self-govern-
ment found untrammelled scope.
The form of government which
they established there was
grounded in self-reliance and in-
dividualism. However, this in-
dividualism, which was so strong
as to hinder the proper working
of the law, proved to be their
downfall when the forces oí
despotism challenged the Com-
monwealth, with the final result
that Iceland lost its independ-
ence to Norway in 1264.
The Icelandic Commonwealth,
then, lasted for over 300 years.
It was the first government “of
the people, 'by the people and for
the people”, in European hist-
ory. It was the first Republic
if I may employ the term in
Europe, and lasted for a longer
period than any republican form
of government has ever endured
down to the present time.
Before I enter upon a discus-
sion of the steps leading to ths
formation of the Icelandic Com-
monwealth, I should like to men-
tion the manner in which the
land was divided by the first
settlers in Iceland. As there
were no inhabitants in the island
when the Norsemen came, there
was no need to suppress or
“civilize” a native population;
no need of violence, bloodshed
or theft in acquiring possession.
This was the first and only set-
tlement of its kind made in th-
history of the White race. On
arriving in the island, the first
comers laid claim to as much
land as they chose. where they
chose. But this method was
soon protested and we find it
recorded that: “Those whc
came out later, thought the first
comers had taken too much land.
and on that account King Harald
Fair-Hair established a law that
no one should take up more land
than he could walk over with
fire in one day with his ship-
companions. They were to light
fires when the sun was in the
east, which were to burn until
night; they were to walk until
the sun was in the westi and
make other fires; the smoke was
to be seen from one fire to an-
other.”
It is interesting to note here,
that women were allowed to take
land in the following manner:
“It was the custom women
should not take up more land
than a half-grown and well-kept
heifer, two winters old, could be1
led across during the spring-
long day, from sunrise to sun-
set”. This was more generous
than appears at first glance,
for the sun may be seen almost I
the whole 24 hours of the day|
and night in the North of Ice-1
land in spring and early sum-
mer.
In summarising the develop-
ment of the Icelandic Common-
wealth, it would be well to intro-1
duce the subject with some pre- j
liminary observations on the
social and political order in the
Germanic, and in particular,
VINDLINGA PAPPÍR
ENGIN BETRI BÚIN TIL
Norse civilization prior to the
J rise of Harald Fair-Hair to pow-
'er. A few words must suffice
to sketch in the background to
the problems which faced the
newcomers to Iceland, and the
i motives which actuated them
when they cast about for a
! form of government to live by.
In the ancient Germanic
! society, the peoþle were divided
j into three classes: the thralls, or
' in the modern term, slaves; next
the franklins, or the small land-
owners or tenants, who were
free-born, but owed allegiance to
' overlords and had to perform
military service for their mast-
ers; and lastly, the ruling class,
'the Jarls or Earls, namely, the
aristocracy. This division of
classes prevailed in the old Norse
Lsociety. This class divisi'on was
held to be of divine origin. The
old Norse poem, Rigsþula, re-
lates that these three classes
descend from sons of the god
Heimdall or Rig, each born of
a different mother. They are
| therefore half-brothers but not
equal.
For generations Norway had
been divided into small earldoms
or kingdoms, independent of one
another. Since the social classes
were held to be of divine origiri,
the power of the ruler descended
from father to son. The extent
of his power depended upon the
size of his earldom, his wealth
and the number of his kinsmen
and followers, in addition to the
rank of his family connections.
The Norse religion, which was
polytheistic, was called the Ása
faith. The chieftans, who were
believed to be of divine origin,
held the office of priesthood as
i well as temporal power over
their kinsmen and followers. The
chief God was Odin, and it is in-
teresting to note that he was
held to be the all-wise and all-
powerful Father of mankind. —
This conception must have made
it easier for the Norsemen, who
embraced the Christian faith, to
understand the, teaching about
God being our Heavenly Father.
But their war-like nature made
it difficult for them to reconcile
themselves to the doctrine of
meekness and submission in the
face of one’s enemies.
As I have said, the power of
the Chieftan or Earl depended
upon his wealth, the position of
his family and the size of his fol-
lowing. When the Norsemen
fled to Iceland, they were shorn
of much of their wealth, and
could take only a few of their
kinsmen and thralls with them.
Hence, the relationship of the
Chieftans to each' other in the
new land was greátly changed.
But they were determined to
maintain their position as the
ruling class in the new land. At
first they lived quite independ-
ently of one another, but the
time soon came when they found
it necessary to organize some
form of political order in the
island. Although some of the
settlers were Christians, their
political ideals remained th
same as those of their ancestors.
Therefore they sought to Nor-
way for inspiration when they
set about establishing a new
political order. Shortly after
920 A. D. Úlfljót, a wise chief-
tan, went to Norway to study
the forms of government which
had prevailed there. After his
return, Alþing was established
at Þingvellir in the south of Ice-
land, in 930 A. D.
It was modelled along the
lines of the Gulaþing, a form of
parliament, so to speak, which
had existed in the West of Nor-
way, from whence a large num-
ber of the settlers in Iceland
hailed. Gulaþing was comprised
of a group of districts, combined
in a loose federation for the pur-
pose of enacting laws to govern
the different districts; but there
was no central power to enforce
these laws. This was also the
case with the Icelandic Alþing.
This lack of a central executive
power, capable and permitted to
enforce the laws over the whole
of the land, led to the chaos of
civil war, called the Sturlunga
Age, which ended with Iceland’s
submission to Norway.
Now I shall briefly summarize
the organization of Alþing. But
first I must mention the position
of the chieftans in Iceland at
this time. The chief was called
a Goði, that is, priest, and hrs
patent of office a Goðorð, com-
bining both religious and secular
powers. The Goði commanded
the allegiance of his kinsmén
and as many free-men as would
serve him, in addition to his
thralls. The relationship be-
tween the Goði and his follow-
ers, was a voluntary one. He
was pledged to assist and pro-
tect his free-men, who in return,
upheld him in his dealings with
other chieftans. The free-man
could shift his allegiance to an-
other Goði within the district, or
to a Goði in any part of the coun-
try, if he wished. This concep-
tion of the relationship between
a chieftan and his followers did
not obtain anywhere else in Eu-
rape at this time.
Thralldom existed in Iceland
well into the Christian era. But
it gradually died out in a peace-
ful manner. Many slaves were
freed soon after they came to
Iceland with their masters, oth-
ers purchased freedom in var-
ious ways, and their children
were declared free-born. It is
estimated that the thralls never
exceeded 2,000 at any time. —
These slaves were of Irish,
Swedish, Scottish and Norweg-
ian kin. Many of them were of
noble birth, who had been taken
prisoners of war in Viking raids,
while others were purchased by
the Icelandic chieftans from
slavé-traders in Norway and
elsewhere in Europe.
At the base of the political
order, were the district Things,
at first 12 in number, each one
being presided over by 3 Goði.
Their followers were free to at-
tend, but had no voting power.
These Þings were held twice a
year, in May and 'August. In
965 A. D. the country was divid-
ed into 4 quarters, and the num-
ber of Þings increased to 13, pre-
sided over by 12 Goði in all. In
the spring, laws for the different
districts were enacted, and di-
sputes arbitrated by a tribunal
of 12 men selected by the Goði
among their followers. In the