Gripla - 20.12.2009, Blaðsíða 90
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SuMMARy
The political system of the Icelandic commonwealth has been described in two
different ways. Some scholars, especially those from the early and mid-twentieth
century, regarded it as the product of a conscious attempt to create a new kind of
democracy, unparalleled anywhere else at the time. Other scholars, especially
towards the end of the same century, tended to view the Icelandic commonwealth
as a variation on the kind of political organisation found elsewhere in medieval
Europe, dominated by a small ruling elite for several centuries while the nation
was without a monarchy, because of its geographical isolation from mainland
Europe. This paper offers a third possible characterisation, whereby the Icelandic
commonwealth may be seen, in essence, as a remnant of an older Germanic politi
cal culture in which general assemblies (þing) played a key role. the unique nature
of the Icelanders' conversion to Christianity exercised a decisive influence on their