Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1943, Blaðsíða 130

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LE NORD
rather conflicting statements on the possibilities of the new coun-
try, the first real settlement took place about 870. During the
following 60 years it was followed by an unceasing stream of
settlers until the country was colonized to the same, or even a
somewhat greater extent than nowadays. This Icelandic coloni-
zation besides others had a purely political background, Harald
Fairhair’s hard proceedings towards the great families forcing
many of them into exile, and the Icelandic settlements thus re-
ceived an addition of the noblest Norwegian blood, which during
the following centuries made itself felt by its pugnacity and
magnanimity. The Icelandic Landnáma (‘Book of the First
Settling’) contains a list of more than 400 settlers, and according
to this list it seems that although most of them hailed from he
Norwegian provinces, no less than one third came from the
British Isles. These chiefly belonged to families formerly emi-
grated from Norway, even though the Celtic element was con-
siderable, partly because of connexions by marriage, partly be-
cause of the Celtic thralls they carried with them. Therefore
we may in Iceland expect to find recognizable features of Celtic
culture.
Whether the first settlers were satisfied or displeased by the
new country, at any rate there was a possibility of existence
for Scandinavian cattle breeders and the settlers organized them-
selves as an independent free-state under the leadership of 3 6
priests and chiefs (“godar”), who combined their temporal office
with that of presiding at the heathenish sacrificial feasts. In the
year 1000 Christianity was adopted by law, and hence the com-
paratively isolated position of Iceland in relation to European
culture was over. Gradually the country came to be dependent
on the Norwegian king, and this in connexion with a series of
disasters, among which the gradual deterioration of the climate
no doubt was the most serious one, introduced a period of decline
for the country, from which it has only risen in modern times.
Among the cataclysms in the Middle Ages the great volcanic
eruptions are the most dramatic ones. Iceland is one of the most
active volcanic areas of the world; we have accounts of about
150 eruptions since the colonization of the country. As for the
Middle Ages our knowledge is especially derived from the Ice-
landic annals, which give very brief accounts of the disasters
and their consequences. Every eruption over a larger or smaller
area leaves a layer of ashes, which is always recognizable, so that