Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.11.1980, Page 6

6-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 21, NÓVEMBER 1980
Dr. Lárus A. Sigurdson:
Iceland is different
An address delivered at the annual meeting of the Icelandic Canadian Frón
INTRODUCTION:
Thrainn Kristjánsson on behalf of the Icelandic Canadian Frón asked
me to speak to you on Iceland. This pleased me because I have a great
fondness for the land and its people. Although I have been to Iceland
twice, I am, of course, no authority of the country or its people.
The first time I went to Iceland was in 1930 when I took my wife, Helen,
with me to celebrate the 1000 years since the establishment of the
Generai Assembly or Althing at Thingvellir. The second visit to Iceland
was to visit the parts of the country where my ancestors lived. My
mother's people came from Borgarfjörður in the South and my father's
people came from Thingeyarsýsla in the North.
Professor Haraldur Bessason of the University of Manitoba and editor
of the Lögberg-Heimskringla asked me to write an article for the paper.
I complied with the first request by reading this article to the Annual
meeting of the Club and then submitted it to the paper.
Þingvellir
Mývatn
The contrast between Iceland and
other countries is very great, as is the
contrast between the people of Iceland
and the people of other countries.
Iceland is a little island of about
40,000 square miles in the North
Atlantic that touches the Arctic Circle.
It is a little larger than Ireland.
Iceland is a very rugged country. The
northern part is so bleak that Neil
Armstrong, the first astronaut to set
foot on the moon, trained in the area
near Mývatn with his fellow
astronauts for the famous and fantastic
Apollo missions.
1. THE STORY OF ICELAND
Vilhjálmur Stefánsson, a great ex-
plorer of the vast unknown North
country of Canada was a Western
Icelander. He was born near the town
of Arnes about sixty-five miles north of
Winnipeg, Manitoba. He gave me a
book he had written named "Iceland",
when I visited him in New York. In it
he stated that "The Icelandic nation
seems to be the only one in the world
that can trace its history back to its
very beginning and also through more
than a thousand years".
2. THE SETTLEMENT OF
ICELAND BY IRISH MONKS
Before the Norse settlers arrived in
Iceland there were Irish monks there
who wanted peace and quiet; thus they
came to Iceland to pray and meditate.
They did this for many years. During
this time it could be stated that the
religion of Iceland was Catholic and
that Christianity was practiced there.
3. THE SETTLEMENT OF
ICELAND BY PAGAN VIKINGS
The quiet and tranquil life of the
Irish monks was rudely shaken when
the pagan Norseman came to Iceland,
first to explore, and then to settle.
Harald the Fair-Haired was determin-
ed to subdue all the viking chiefs in
order to unify Norway. He broke their
power but not their spirit. Many of
them left Norway to settle in Iceland
rather than to pay taxes on land that
they onoe owned.
4. THE FIRST PARLIAMENT
OF ICELAND
In the year 930, the first democratic
government in the world was estab-
lished. Certain laws were enacted
enabling the people of Iceland to be
governed by themselves — not by a
king or a dictator. This form of govern-
ment survived for centuries. The
Icelanders firmly believed that by the
law the land shall be built and without
the law the land shall be destroyed.
5. ICELAND AND THE LAW
From earliest times the Icelanders
have had a great respect for the law of
the land. One of these laws was that if
a man committed a murder the punish-
ment, if found guilty by the Althing,
was banishment for three years. If he
came back within that period any
citizen could put him to death. Erik the
Red was found guilty of murder. He
therefore chose to go west to some land
that had been seen by other Icelanders.
These remarkable voyages began in
982. Erik reached the land which he
called Greenland and was the first man
to settle and colonize it. Eighteen years
later in the year 1000, Erik's son, Leif
was the first European to set foot on
the mainland of North America. In
1492, Christopher Columbus
discovered an island many miles east
of America.
Adultery was considered to be a
capital crime in ancient times. If the
man was found guilty by the Althing
he was beheaded. The woman was
quietly drowned in a nearby river or
lake.
Dancing was at-one time forbidden
by law for about 110 years or three
generations due to religious reasons.
The metric system was studied by
the government. In due course in the
year 1912 it was instituted in Iceland.
In Canada we are gradually adopting
the metric system, but the United'
States have not yet introduced the
system in their land.
In Iceland if a couple decide to get a
divorce the process in most cases is
relatively simple. They appear at the
appropriate bureau of the government
and state the facts. This is recorded
and amicable arrangements are arriv-
ed at regarding children, property and
support. A certain sum of money is
agreed upon to support the wife and
Surtsey
children. The government pays the
sum to the wife regardless of whether
he pays the government or not. A
delinquent husband is dealt with by
the bureau. In a year or so the divorce
is final.
Over one thousand years ago the
citizens of Iceland gathered at
Thingvellir to settle their differences,
at which time one of the leaders would
stand on Lögberg (law rock) and recite
the laws of the land. This procedure
was repeated annually and continued
for centuries.
6. THE DARK AGES IN
ICELANDIC HISTORY
As in the history of other European
countries, Iceland experienced many
dismal events which catapulted it into
what is known as the "dark ages".
The decline began in 1264 when
Iceland took an oath of allegiance to
the Norwegian king. What began at the
Althing as the first free republic in the
world ceased to exist.
The catalogue of woe for Iceland
began 36 years after Iceland lost her
freedom with a volcanic eruption in
1300 and others followed in 1308,
1311, 1341, 1389, 1618, 1619, 1625,
1636, 1660, 1693, 1727, 1755, 1783 and
recently Surtsey in 1963 and Heimaey
in 1973.
There were deadly epidemics,
famines and death in 1300, 1301 and
1502 when two-thirds of the popula-
tion perished and in 1707 when
smallpox killed one third of the
population. ^
There were earthquakes in 1300 and
1732, as well as in the 20th century.
English pirates plundered the Vestf-
jords in 1579 and Algerian pirates
pillaged the Eastfjords and the West-
mann Islands in 1627.
Norway and Iceland united with
Denmark in the year 1380. As Den-
mark gained control of Iceland, the
Icelandic chieftains were replaced by
royal officials. The Althing was retain-
ed as a court of law with judges chosen
by the royal officials. However, its
power began to wane considerably
when in 1662 Iceland accepted the ab-
solute monarchy of Denmark which
had been introduced two years before.
Things began to look brighter in 1787
with the partial lifting of the Danish
monopoly, but the Althing was
abolished 13 years later. The supreme
court of law took its place. In 1843, the
Althing was reinstituted in the capital
city of Reykjavik. However it was
limited in that it was vested with only
advisory powers and only a few
privileged owners of property were
elected to office. Although Norway
withdrew from Danish control in 1814,
Iceland remained under Danish rule
and did not become completely in-
dependent until June 17, 1944. Two
years later, Iceland became a member
of the United Nations.
The Dark Ages lasted 300 years for
the Europeans, but for a full 600 years
for the Icelanders. They began in 1264
when Iceland lost its independence
and ended in 1944 when independence
was regained.
7. TRANSPORTATION
The Norsemen and others that settl-
continued on page 7