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son to believe that it was created by the Icelanders; it was most likely a
tradition which the original settlers brought with them to the country.25
vII
In general, it is my conclusion that medieval Iceland enjoyed, in many
ways, an interestingly distinctive political culture. But there is little reason
to think that this was due to the inventiveness or ideals of the people of
Iceland. It was above all due to the distance from royal power. It was the
Atlantic Ocean with its high waves and predominant westerly winds which
kept the arms of kings away from the country for more than three centu­
ries after human habitation began there.
RefeRenCeS
Arngrímur jónsson. Crymogæa. Þættir úr sögu Íslands, translated by jakob Bene­
diktsson. Reykjavík: Sögufélag, 1985.
Ármann jakobsson. Í leit að konungi. Konungsmynd íslenskra konungasagna. Reykja­
vík: Háskólaútgáfan, 1997.
Barnes, Michael. “tingsted. vesterhavsøyene for øvrig.” Kulturhistorisk leksikon for
nordisk middelalder XvIII. Reykjavík: Bókaverzlun ísafoldar, 1974, 382–387.
Björn Þorsteinsson. Íslensk miðaldasaga. Reykjavík: Sögufélag, 1978.
Björn Þorsteinsson. Íslenzka þjóðveldið. Reykjavík: Heimskringla, 1953.
Björn Þorsteinsson. Ný Íslandssaga. Þjóðveldisöld. Reykjavík: Heimskringla,
1966.
The Complete Sagas of Icelanders including 49 tales. General editor: viðar Hreinsson.
I. Reykjavík: Leifur eiríksson Publishing, 1997.
Egils saga Skalla­Grímssonar, ed. by Sigurður nordal. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka
fornritafélag, 1933.
einar olgeirsson. Ættasamfélag og ríkisvald í þjóðveldi Íslendinga. Reykjavík: Heims­
kringla, 1954.
Den eldre Gulatingslova, ed. by Bjørn eithun, Magnus Rindal, tor ulset. oslo:
Riksarkivet, 1994.
Fellows-Jensen, Gillian. “Tingwall, Dingwall and Thingwall.” Twenty­Eight Papers
Presented to Hans Bekker­Nielsen on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday 28 April
1993. odense: odense university Press, 1993, 53–67.
25 Gunnar karlsson, Goðamenning, 199–202.
WAS ICeLAnD tHe GALAPAGoS . . . ?