|
HAVING seen that there is little likelihood of Ireland
having been the sacred isle of the Hiberni, let us turn to lceland and
endeavour to ascertain whether it might not answer to such a description
in the fifth century. It may be remarked here that the name Hibernia is
more likely to have been originally applied to a northern or wintry
country such as Iceland, than to a temperate country like Ireland.
Hibernia was the Roman name of the winter quarters for soldiers, and it is
probable that the Roman writers of ancient times, in order to designate a
region which was often ice-bound, appropriately called it Hibernia.
Iceland is certainly one of the most wonderful
countries of Europe, whether we look at it from a physical or historical
point of view. Its physical aspect, remarkable as that is, however, does
not concern us at present; and we turn to its ancient history, which has a
direct bearing on several points of the subject under consideration, and
which is no less interesting than astonishing to the student of human
nature.
Some accounts represent the Landnamma Book, one of the
earliest records relating to Iceland, as saying that it was inhabited by
Irish before it was colonized by Norwegians. Others, founding on the same
authority, speak of the first inhabitants as Papae or Christian
priests. The diploma of Thomas, bishop of
Orkney [Orkneyinga Saga, pp. 549-50] affirms, upon the authority of
ancient records, that the Norwegians found two
nations in Orkney, when they first landed there, the Picts and the Papae,
but entirely destroyed them both. [Todd's Irish Version of Nennius, p.
147, note] It is very probable that the same two nations which were found
in Orkney by the Norwegians were also found by them in Iceland; and that
the Picts were represented by the Irish, or rather Gaelic Celts from the
north of Scotland, who appear in such large numbers among the earlier
settlers mentioned in the Landnamma Book. Papae seems to be only another
name for the Scots, who were to be found wandering in large numbers over
the Continent and other southern countries in the ninth century, when the
Norwegians drove the Papae from Iceland. The most learned Scandinavian
antiquaries are of opinion that three distinct populations peopled the
north :—" A Mongolian race, of
which the Laplanders and the Esquimaux are examples; a Celtic race; and a
Caucasian race, which, almost within the limits of northern history, came
from Asia, drove out or extirpated the Celtic and Laplandic races, and are
the present inhabitants." Their opinions are based on philological,
mythological, and arelneological grounds. [Laing's Translation of the
Heimskringla, vol iii. p. 365]
It is affirmed that Iceland still contains many traces
of the Irish colonists who had occupied the island before the arrival of
the Norwegians. There is Ira (Irish) river, Ira-fell, or Irish-fell, in
the Kyosar Sysla, and the Irarbudr, or Irish booths, in Hvamansfiord. An
intelligent Icelander, anxious perhaps to disclaim an Irish origin, says:
"The large number of Irish settlers in Iceland after Ingolf do not prove
anything concerning a previous settlement. No one denies that Iceland was
visited by the Irish previous to
the Norwegian discovery. No proofs have as yet been brought forward to
show that a settlement was made more extensive than that spoken of in the
Landnammabok, and by Ari Froda." []Burton's Ultima Thule, vol i. p. 87] Mr
Hjaltalin evidently takes the Irish who had settled in Iceland before the
Norwegians as people from the country now known as Ireland; but it is more
likely, as already stated, that the Irish colonists came from the north of
Scotland, and gave the island the name of Ireland, or western
land, by which name it was known to
Alfred the Great. The passages, which will be quoted immediately from
Munch’s "Chronicle of Man," confirm this. The large number of Irish
settlers who appear in Iceland soon after it was discovered by the
Norwegians, goes far to prove that the Celtic settlements in the island
were more extensive than is generally supposed. This is likewise borne out
by the following:-
"As to those of the first settlers,
whose fates during the time
between their emigration from Norway and their arrival in Iceland, nothing
is told expressly, it is still somehow to be guessed, that they passed
some time in the western islands, or in Ireland, at least in the first
period of the colonization. We find thus that not a few of their slaves
had Gaelic names, which shows that they were either Irishmen or Scottish
HIighlanders; some of the settlers themselves were even Irishmen or
inhabitants of the western islands of Scotland; and what is still more
remarkable, and perhaps gives the best evidence of the state of things
here supposed, is, that the rearing and pasturing of sheep, the national
and most important branch of livelihood in Iceland, has never, not even in
the times of the colonization, been like
to anything in Norway, the mother country, not
even as far as regards the termini technici, while, on the
contrary, it has all the chief and characteristic features of the same
national occupation in Western Scotland. and the Isles. [The sheep in
Orkney are or were of a peculiar breed, and are similar to these of the
Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Shetland. In Iceland, as well as in Orkney,
the wool is torn from the backs of the sheep, instead of being shorn as in
other countries—Barry’s Orkney, Edition 1867, pp. 311 and 313.] From this
circumstance we are indeed justified in concluding, almost to a certainty,
that those settlers who set the first example of rural economy in Iceland,
and gave to the whole way of living its chief and lasting features, had
passed time long enough on the Scottish coasts and the Isles, to become in
a great measure nationalised there, and to adopt very much of the manners
and customs prevailing among the inhabitants. . . To the Icelanders,
therefore, theWVestern Islands of Scotland, as in a certain degree the
chief cradle of their race, even more than the mother country Norway
itself, ought to be ot peculiar interest, and are even to be looked upon
by them with a sort of filial piety. [Munch’s Chronicle of Man and the
Sudreys, pref., pp. iii, and iv.]
In the above extract the first settlers are spoken of
generally as irishmen or Scottish
Highlanders. Until it can be decided whether they were the one or the
other, it will be reasonable to assume that they are more likely to have
been Scotsmen than Irishmen, as the north of Scotland is considerably
nearer Iceland than Ireland. It is probable also that they reached Iceland
by way of the Orkney and Shetland, rather than the western, islands.
Whether the Gaelic Celts or the
Teutonic Goths first colonized Iceland may perhaps never be learned. That
a considerable body of colonists from the east settled in it at an early
period is evident from the affinity of the languages and customs. Laing is
very decided about it:
"The race of men who under Odin established themselves
in the countries north of the Baltic were undoubtedly of Asiatic origin. .
. The causes, as well as the dates, of
this vast movement, are lost in the night of antiquity. The fact itself
admits of no doubt." [Heimskringla, English translation, vol. i. pp. 38
and 46.] Whether the Argonauts landed
on the island and revealed its existence to the inhabitants of Thracia,
may be doubtful; [Ireland not the Hibernia of the Ancients, p. 39.]
but there is good reason for believing that Odin landed in iceland with a
body of Goths and introduced Christianity and civilisation into it. it is
said that—" After every attempt to elucidate the origin and exploits of
Odin, it must be confessed that nothing certain is known beyond the
historical fact that he was the author of a new religion, and the importer
of arts and improvements, with which, before his arrival, the rude and
primitive inhabitants of the north were altogether unacquainted."
[Scandinavia, by Crichton and Wheeler, vol. i. p. 82.]
Runes are said to have been introduced into Iceland by Odin. The use of
this mode of writing was very ancient, and was probably brought from the
east by the Goths. The letters resemble those of the Greek, Etrurian, and
Celtiberian alphabets, more than the Roman. They were the most common mode
of writing known to the Icelanders till time end of the twelfth century. [Nicol's
Account of Iceland, pp. 117, 144, and 145, and note].
From these circumstances it is evident that the Teutonic Goths were a
highly intelligent race; and if the Celts of northern Scotland occupied
Iceland before them, they were in all likelihood subjugated by the more
civilised people.
For how long before the ninth
century these Goths and Celts peopled the island it is impossible now to
ascertain, but there can be little doubt that the Goths imparted a
knowledge of the Christian religion to the inhabitants before the fourth
century, when we have seen Iceland called by the name of the Sacred Isle.
That these Goths were the progenitors of the Scots there are good grounds
for believing; and it may thus he granted after all that the Scots came to
Scotland from Hibernia or Ireland, though not the Hibernia and Ireland of
the present day.
That the Goths were the men who were
called Papae by the Norwegians there is also reason to believe. The
Landuamma Book, and other ancient Icelandic writings, state that before
Iceland was settled by the Northmen there were men there called by the
Northmen Papae. These men were Christians, and are said to have all left
the country when the Norwegians settled there, but this will be shown to
be doubtful. That many of them did leave is evident, and in their haste to
get out of reach of the Pagans, they left behind them books, bells, and
croziers, such as generally belonged to early Scottish Christian
communities. Ari Froda, an ancient Icelandic writer, says that when Ingolf
the Norwegian visited Iceland, he found Christians there, whom the
Northmen called Papae, who, not choosing to associate with heathens, went
away, leaving behind them books, bells, and croziers.[Toad’s Irish Version
of Nonnins, p. 147, note.] At the time when the Norwegians began to settle
in Iceland we find Scots from Hibernia pouring into Britain and the
continent. These were apparently the fugitive Christians who left Iceland,
and some of them may have reached the country now called Ireland, and
called it after the name of their native country.
Mr Dassent [Burnt Njal, vol. i. p.
vii.] identifies the Papae with the Culdees, traces of whom are
principally found on the east coast of Scotland, which in the eleventh and
preceding centuries comprehended the whole of ancient Scotia. Traces of
them are also found in Ireland. Culdee, like Papae, was evidently a name
given to the ancient priesthood, after it had come under the power of the
Roman Church, and both were probably imposed for the purpose of darkening
their early history. The history of the Papae is said to be involved in
obscurity; and it is stated that the old annalists had no doubt good
reasons for saying as little about them as possible. [Nicol's Iceland, p.
93, note.]
There were many people of the name
of Papay or Paplay in Orkney about the beginning of this century, and
formerly in Iceland also. It is probable that the name may have originated
from their remote ancestors having been Papae. Several places in Iceland,
the Western Isles of Scotland, and Orkney, bear the name of Papay or
Paplay likewise. They are generally in retired situations, are
distinguished for the richness of their soil, the variety of their natural
productions, the pleasantness of their exposure and agreeable prospect.
Some of them contain venerable ruins. From these characteristics it is
believed they were once the abodes of men of a sacred character. [Barry’s
Orkney, pp. 109 and 110.]
Notwithstanding the facts mentioned
by the Landnamma Book, and Ari Froda, it is sometimes alleged that the
Icelanders previous to the beginning of the eleventh century were pagans,
but there are fortunately other circumstances which corroborate the
testimony of these authorities that Christianity was the belief of the
earliest known inhabitants of the island. The oldest Icelandic literature
even manifests that its sources have been influenced by Christian ideas. A
poem of undoubted antiquity, The Voluspa, for instance, treats of the
creation, the origin of man, how evil and death were brought into the
world, and concludes with
a prediction of the destruction and renovation
of the universe, and a description of the future abodes of bliss and
misery. In another the Trinity is invoIced, and a future state is
described in accordance with Christian doctrines. Among these poems, which
are generally known by the name of the Elder Edda, there is a series of
heroic lays, forming a complete epos. They relate the same story as the
Nibelungen-lied. Satisfactory evidence, however, has been brought forward
to show that the Icelandic poems were not derived from German sources. The
Northern wrlters even assert that this Eddaic epos must have been composed
before any Norwegians settled in Iceland. [Mallet’s Icorthern Antiquities,
p. 876, and note, Bohu’s Edition,] The Elder Edda consists of thirty-nine
poems. These were collected about the beggining of the twelfth century by
a native Icelander, called Saemund Sigfusson. He had studied in the
universities of France and Germany, and after his return to his native
land he became parish priest of Oddi, a village situated at the foot of
Mount Hekla, and which had belonged to his family from the time of the
colonisation of the island by the Norwegians. This Edda was suppressed for
a long period. It was only brought to light about the year 1630, that is,
after the Protestant faith had been established for nearly a hundred years
in the island, by the Bishop of SkaIholt. [Mackenzie’s Travels in Iceland.
New Edition. p. 10.] When this is known a clue is afforded to the reason
why we know so little about the ancient Icelandic worship, as intimated in
the following extract: "It seems snrprising that we know so little of a
pagan religion existing so near our own times, of this last remnant of
paganism among the European people, existing in vigour almost 500 years
after Christianity and the Romish Church establishment were diffused in
every other country! What we know of it
is from The Edda, compiled by Saemund, the priest." [Laing’s
Translation of the Heirnskringla, vol. i. p. 70.]
It will be seen shortly that notwithstanding the obscurity with which it
has been surrounded the ancient lcelandic religion, the worship introduced
by Odin, was identical in many respects with Christianity.
There is a prose work called The Younger Edda, which
seems to have been derived from its predecessor, the poetical one. Its
composition is ascribed to the celebrated Icelander Snorri Sturleson, who
was born in 1178, and was twice supreme magistrate of the island.
The
materials from which it was composed are believed to have been in
existence before Snorri’s time; but the prologue and epilogue, which
consist of the myths and legends of several nations jumbled together, were
probably written by himself. The Edda proper contains a synopsis of
Scandinavian belief. [Mallet’s Northern Antiquities, pp. 377 and 378,
Bohn’s Edition.] With regard to the third chapter of it, Mallet remarks
"From its conformity with the Christian
doctrines one would be temptel to believe that Snorri had here embelished
the religion of his pagan ancestors by bringing it as near
as possible to the Gospel, if we did not find the same theme literally
expressed in The Voluspa, a poem of undoubted antiquity, and which was
composed before the name of Christianity was known in the north," [Mallet’s
Northern Antiquities, p. 508, Bohn’s Edition,] or rather
before the Pagan Norwegians banished most of the earliest Christian
inhabitants from Iceland. The ancient mythology of the Icelanclers styled
the object of their worship: "The author of everything that exists, the
Eternal, the living and awful being who searches into concealed matters,
and is subject to no change, of incorruptible justice, infinite power, and
unbounded knowledge." [Edda and Voluspa, quoted in Barry’s Orkney,
pp. 94 and 95.]
It is said that the practical forms or modes of worship
in the religion of Odin cannot be discovered from the Eddas, nor from the
Sagas, which the two Eddas were intended to illustrate. It is also alleged
with truth that much has probably been altered to suit the ideas of the
age in which they were committed to writing in their present form, and of
the scribes who compiled them. [Lalug’s
Translation of Heimskringla, pp. 81 and 86,]
There can be little doubt but that these Eddas were altered to suit the
priests of a different worship who desired to obliterate as far as
possible all traces of Christianity from them. Snorri Sturleson, the
compiler of the prose one, also wrote a history of the early Norwegian
kings, called the Heimskringla. There are appearances of its being also
written to serve the aims of the King of Norway, who made Snorri his
chamberlain, and otherwise honoured him. Snorri is even charged by his
countrymen with having entered into a private agreement with the king and
an earl that he should use his influence to subvert the independence which
Iceland had hitherto enjoyed, and to persuade the King to submit to the
government of the King of Norway. As a reward for this service he was to
be made the king’s lenderman, or earl, over his native country. He appears
to have been just the man to betray the independence of his country. He is
described as "Greedy, selfish, ambitious, and under no restraint or
principle in gratifying his avarice and his evil passions." A history of
Norway written by such a man is not a safe guide when it touches upon
Icelandic history. [Laing’s Translation of the
Heimskringla, vol. i. pp. 188—198, and Mackenzie’s Travels in Iceland, New
Edition, pp. 12 and 15.]
We are told that the primitive religion of the Goths
and Scythians was at one time a purer and simpler form of worship than
that which prevailed at a later period. Their creed, it is said, was
corrupted with foreign superstitions and idolatries, imposed upon them as
a badge of servitude by their conquerors; and in this way the original
simplicity of’ their religion was obscured and disfigured. [Scandinavia,
by Crichton and Wheaton, vol, i, pp. 84 and 85.]
This is not unlike what took place in Iceland, as the
following extract and succeeding events in the history of the island
testify:—
"The religion of Odin bears strong internal evidence of
having borrowed doctrines, institutions, and ceremonies from Christianity.
. . . In Haar the High, Iafnhaar the Equal to
the High, and Thredde the Third, we find a rude idea of the Trinity in the
Edda. . . . . Odin himself, an incarnation of
divine power, and one of this trinity, attended by his twelve companions
or Godars, and establishing a religion and religious government, is a
coincidence with our Saviour and the twelve apostles too strong to be
merely accidental. . . . In all the forms of
heathenism that existed before Christianity, the priesthood were all a
temple priesthood. . . . Christianity, however,
from the first appears to have been altogether congregational.... Odinism
appears to have been formed like early Christianity, and no doubt in
imitation of it, upon the congregational principle. . .
. The use of the sign of the cross also as a religious symbol
appears to have prevailed in Odinism in the earliest times, and must have
been borrowed from Christianity. . . .
These are not analogies common to all forms of
religion, because arising from a common root—the sense of
religion in the mind of man; nor are they coincidences which may be
common to two religions totally unconnected with each other, because
formed among two bodies of mankind living under physical and social
circumstances very similar, although in different times and totally
distinct countries; but they are palpable imitations of ceremonial and
arrangement, proving that the one religion has been impressed by the
other; has adopted ceremonies, observances, institutions, and doctrines,
from some obscure knowledge of the other." [Laing’s
Translation of the Heimskringla, vol. iii.
pp, 372—375,]
Before the Norwegians began to settle in Iceland it was
visited by Naddod, a Norwegian pirate, in 861, and by a Swede named
Gardar, in 864. These two persons were driven to its shores by storms; but
another Norwegian pirate, named Floki, attempted to settle on it. He was
compelled to leave it after a year’s residence,
through the death of his cattle, having neglected to collect sufficient
food for them during the winter.
Ingolf, the next Norwegian settler, was more
successful. He arrived on the island in 874, along with a cousin called
Thorleif, who was killed soon afterwards by slaves. The slaves are said to
have been brought from Ireland. But it is still more remarkable to find
that after Ingolf and Thorleif had decided to settle in Iceland, while the
former was preparing for their departure from Norway, the latter made a
voyage to Ireland, and returned from it to Norway with immense booty. Why
did he not at once take it to Iceland? Before deciding to settle in
Iceland the cousins are said to have explored and passed a winter on the
island. Is it not possible that it was from Iceland, the ancient Ireland,
that Thorleif brought the booty to Norway? Is it not more likely also that
when the cousins did settle on the island, they would press some of the
former inhabitants into their service as slaves, and
that it was some of them who put Thorleif to death for stealing from them?
It is certainly strange that Thorleif,
after he had seen Iceland and determined to settle on it, should make an
expedition to so distant a country as Ireland; and until some good reasons
are given to account for it we may be allowed
to suppose that such an expedition was never made by
Thorleif.
As still further illustrating the confusion that has
been made in history by the names of the two countries being once the
same, the following may be produced. In the Laxdaela Saga it is
stated that Haskold purchased, from a Russian trader, in the tenth
century, a pretty girl, whom he made his concubine. She said she was the
daughter of the Irish king Mirkjartan, and that her name was Melkorka. [Mallet’s
Antiquities, p. 313, Bohn’s Edition,] In Olafsen and Povelsen’s
Travels in Iceland [English translation,
pp. 70 and 71,] we are told that the oldest
inscription in Iceland is on a stone at the church of Borg, and that it
commemorates a Charles Kiartan, whose mother was the
sister of Myr Kiartan, King of Iceland, Charles Kiartan died in
1003, so that his uncle might easily be Melkorka’s father,
and is evidently the Irish king of the Laxdaela Saga. But as there is no
authentic information of such a king having ruled in Ireland at that
period, it is reasonable to conclude that the Ireland of the Laxdaela Saga
was the Iceland of the present day. This also gives us a hint of how the
Icelandic history has been tampered with, for even if no kings of that
country are allowed to appear in its annals; but the old stone at Borg had
escaped the notice of the Norwegian monarchs and their minions, who helped
to put an end to the independence of the Icelanders by obscuring their
ancient history.
Ingolf was not long the only Norwegian colonist in
Iceland, for Harold Harfager, King of Norway, endeavoured at that time to
reduce to complete subjection the inferior kings or jarls, and this caused
many of them to join Ingolf in his island home. So numerous were the
emigrants to Iceland then that Harold forbade any one to leave his
kingdom. These Norwegian colonists were principally the best and bravest
of their race, and they continued to flock for sixty years towards the new
settlement. A northern writer thus alludes to the colonization
:—
"Compelled to leave their native country, some
Norwegians took possession of Iceland in the ninth century, where, instead
of adopting the form of government to which they had been accustomed, they
formed themselves into a regular republic, in which there was such an
admirable distribution of the powers of government as at the same time
secured liberty and promoted order and subordination. Its constitution,
however extraordinary it may appear, is in every respect as well
authenticated as those of the most celebrated states of antiquity, and
such a form of polity among a people in such a remote region merits the
attention of the diligent student of human nature as a curious and
unsolved problem." [Barry’s Orkney, pp. 93 and
94.]
It is not likely, however, that the Norwegian colonists
could have elaborated such an admirable method of government themselves.
Besides, among the earliest settlers mentioned in the Landnamma Bok, there
were many Danes and Swedes. [Von Troll’s Letters on Iceland, in
Pinkerton’s Colleqtjofi of Voy. ages, p. 645,] But had they not been
preceded by a race of educated Christians in Iceland, little would have
been known regarding the ancient state of the island; and it is to them
that the northern republic evidently owes its origin. It is needless to go
into the admirable system of government which existed in Iceland in the
thirteenth and preceding centuries. Suffice it to say that "it is
remarkable as the first instance of a free nation united solely by moral
ties and a knowledge of their mutual interests. There was no external
interference, which, exciting a spirit of patriotism, might contribute to
preserve its union. It relied solely on its internal principles;
particularly a deep-felt reverence for the law, and it is probable that
but for foreign interposition it might have subsisted a still longer
period." [Nicol’s Iceland, p. 106 ]
Notwithstanding the facts already brought forward to
show that there were Christians in Iceland before the Norwegians settled
there, it is often alleged that Christianity was not introduced into the
island till the beginning of the eleventh century. But in addition to the
evidence already produced regarding the belief of the earliest
inhabitants, there is direct testimony that some at least of the Norwegian
settlers were Christians long before the period stated; and it will be as
well to refer to it before dealing with what is called the introduction of
Christianity. The Sagas mention several wealthy landowners during the
ninth and tenth centuries who had adopted that belief; and it is likely
that these would be surrounded by dependents who would acknowledge the
same faith. Aude, the daughter of the powerful Norwegian, Ketil Flatnef,
and the wife of King Olaf the White, after her husband’s decease, took up
her abode in Iceland with her brother Bjorn, who had large possessions on
the west coast. "She was a Christian, but did not build any church,
erecting only some stone crosses at which she said her prayers." [Munch’s
Chronicle of Man, preface, p. xii.] Helgi Magri, a son of Eyvind,
another distinguished Norwegian adventurer, having become a mighty
chieftain, married a daughter of Ketil Flatnef, and sister to Aude just
mentioned, Helgi, like his relations, also settled in Iceland about 880,
with Sons and retinue, and became one of the most powerful lords. He was a
Christian, and erected his abode on a place which, in accordance with his
belief, he called Christness. [Ibid,, pp. xiv.
and xv.] A nephew of Ketil Flatnef, named. "Olryg, was educated as
a Christian by the holy bishop Patrick, in the Sudreys. When grown up he
resolved to go to Iceland, and asked the advice and aid of the Bishop.
Patrick gave him timber to build a church, a plenarium, a bell, a gold
coin, and some consecrated earth to put beneath the corner pillars, as no
other dedication could be effected, He directed him to dedicate it to St
Columba," He called the place where he first landed Patricksfiord, which
name it still bears. The bishop pointed out to him the place where he was
to settle, which intimates that this Patrick was well acquainted with
Iceland, the ancient Ireland. Olryg, not finding the right spot where he
first landed, sailed southwards, and found it in the territory of his
cousin, Helgi Bjola, the son of Ketil Flatnef. His cousin gave him the
lands indicated by the bishop, and there Olryg built his church and
dwelling house. "His descendants became great and powerful lords, and
continued Christians." [Munch’s Chronicle of
Man, preface, p. xv.] They considered Columba as their tutelary
saint. [Olafsen’s and Povelsen’s Travels in
Iceland, English Translation, p. 38.] One of the daughters of Ketil
Flatnef had a son called also Ketil, Re was brought up as a Christian, and
took np his abode at a place called Kirkjubor (Church Town). This was one
of the settlements of the Papae, and a tradition affirms that the pagan
Norwegians could not inhabit this district, but that Ketil, being a
Christian, found no dlficulty. "The name Kirkjubor, seems to involve that
he found already a church there, and maybe also the ecclesiastics, who
hitherto might have found means to prevent the pagans from molesting
them." [Munch’s Chronicle of Man, preface, p.
xvi.] This information, afforded by reliable writings
relating to the early settlement of the island, puts it beyond doubt that
there was a large and influential community of Christians in Iceland in
the ninth century, or a hundred years before Christianity is said to have
been introduced into the island. There is every likelihood, besides, that
the Christian faith would spread among the Norwegian colonists, when it
was embraced by some of the most celebrated of them, so that there would
be little need for the introduction of the Christian religion into Iceland
in the year 1000, as is said to have been the case.
Christianity is said to have been planted in Norway,
Iceland, and Orkney by King Olave Trygvveson. He had been converted while
a youth in England. After he became King of Norway he was desirous of
converting other countries. Accordingly he fitted out five or six ships,
and filled them with men able to diffuse a knowledge of Christianity. He
sailed direct to Ireland.[Should this not be
Iceland?] On his return he forced the Earl of Orkney and all the
inhabitants of that island to embrace the Christian faith. [Barry’s
Orkney, pp. 128 and 129.] The romantic incidents
in the life of Olaf Trygvveson are said to have too much alloy in
their composition to abide the scrupulous test of history. [Scandinavia,
by Crichton and Wheaton, vol. 1 p. 153.] In addition to this we are
told that the Northmen had fictitious sagas, which are easily
distinguished from those that treat of real persons and events by the tone
and style, the endeavour after effect, and the improba’bility of the
incidents. [Nicol’s
Iceland, p. 152.] After learning this, one is surprised to find
that Olaf Trygvveson’s Saga is still accepted as history. It deals to a
large extent with the presumed introduction of Christianity into Iceland
in the year 1000; but the improbability of the incidents connected with
this event stamp it as a fabrication. A few examples may be given.
The first missionary is said to have gone through a
large fire without his clothes even being scorched, while two believers in
the faith of the Icelanders who attempted to do the same thing were
instantly consumed. This first missionary likewise slew two poets who had
satirised his religion—a most unchristian deed. Not succeeding according
to his wishes, he returned to Norway, accompanied by the most influential
men of both parties. King Olaf threatened to put these men to death unless
they would consent to be baptised—a unique method of conversion. Gissur
and Hiati are the names of the next missionaries whom Olaf sent to convert
the Icelanders. They are said to have been more successful, because
Snorro, the chief magistrate, a powerful supporter of the old faith
hitherto, now aided by his influence the spread of the new faith, it is
remarkable to find a Gissur and a Snorro acting a prominent part in
promoting the designs of the Norwegian monarch against the independence of
Iceland in the thirteenth century. Can it be that the events of one period
have been transferred to an earlier time to advance the claims of the
Norwegian King? We have seen something of the same kind taking place with
regard to Scotland when the interpolations in Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History were under consideration. It is certainly not common for kings to
take so active a part in Christianising other countries as Olaf
Trygvveson, King of Norway, is said to have done for Iceland.
The following is the account given of Gissur’s and
Hialti’s labours by another authority: "In the year 1000 the Christian
religion was introduced into Iceland by her apostles Gizur the White and
Hialto. The latter was an Icelander by birth, but had been banished for
composing a song in disparagement of the heathen deities. Snorro (the
chief magistrate of the republic), became a convert, and lent the greatest
assistance in extending the new faith. . . . As
this was the third attempt to preach Christianity in the island, it seems
probable that the good sense of the Icelanders had already rejected
in secret the superstitions of Paganism, and that the worship of Thor had
declined in the estimation of the people." [Abstract
of Eyrbyggia-saga, by Sir W. Scott, in Mallet’s Antiquities, Bobn’s
Edition.]
The final stage in this drama is interesting enough in
the annals of missionary enterprise to find a place here:-
"The Althing being convened, Thorgeir, the chief
magistrate of the republic, brought forward the laws he had received from
Gissur, which provided that all the inhabitants of Iceland should become
Christians and receive baptism; that the heathen temples and idols should
be abolished and destroyed and lastly that all open idolatrous worship
should be punished with a fine. To conciliate the otherparty he permittod
them, in conformity with the old customs, to erpose their children, to cat
horse-flesh, and to worship their former gods in private....
. To these conditions both parties were compelled to assent, and
the whole nation would have been baptised at once had not the inhabitants
of the northern and eastern quarters refused to be immersed in cold water.
These rescusants, however, were subsequently admitted into the Church at
the thermal springs of Laugerdal." [Nicol’s
Iceland, p. 111,]
It is somewhat surprising to find that this is accepted
as a truthful account of the introduction of Christianity into Iceland. It
may, however, relate to the introduction of the Roman Catholic modes of
worship there. After this time (the arrival of Gissur and Haiti) many
monks of the Order of St Benedict and St Austin settled there, and the
people paid a tribute to the Roman See. The Icelanders first received
their own bishops in the year 1057 at Skaliholt, and at Hoolum in
1107.[Von Troil's Letters on
Iceland, in Pinkerton’s Collection of Travels, p. 649.]
As hearing upon the prevalence of the Christian faith
and worship among the Icelanders before the year 1000, the following facts
are worth recording. Mallet [Antiquities,
Bohn’s Edition, p. 470.] informs us that they were easily induced
to embrace Christianity. In marked contrast to this we are told that "the
Norwegians clung tenaciously to the worship of their forefathers, and
numbers of them died real martyrs for their faith." From the same
authority we learn that though several Danish kings were baptised,
Christianity had made very little progress in Denmark in the tenth
century. The lawless habits of the Danes, and their invincible attachment
to the ancient idolatry, presented formidable obstacles to their
conversion. [Scandinavia, by Cricliton and Wheaton, vol. 1. p. 123.]
Another striking circumstance shows how little advance Paganism had made
in Iceland. In Norway and Sweden human victims were offered on the
Blotstein or Sacrificial Stone to appease the offended deities; "but these
sacrifices do not appear ever to have taken place in Iceland." [Mallet’s
Antiquities, .Bohn’s Edition, p. 99k, note.] There were Blotsteins
in Iceland, but they were "only used for putting criminals to death on." [Olafsen’s
and Povelsen’s Travels, English Translation, p. 84.] The exposure
of children was one of the barbarous customs introduced from Norway; and
"it appears to have been extinct in Iceland long before it was finally
abolished in Norway." [Mackenzie’s Travels in
Iceland, New Edition, p. 13, note.] Writers on the early history of
Iceland are always inclined to look to Norway for the origin of most of
the Icelandic. beliefs, manners, and customs, but the facts of history do
not bear them out in this supposition. Take the Icelandic republic for
instance. No such form of government was known in Norway. Trial by jury,
another ancient Icelandic institution, is almost entirely absent from the
Norwegian Code of Laws. Take the Skaldic profession as another instance.
It is sometimes affirmed that this is an old Norwegian custom or science;
but it is remarkable, if that be so, that no Skalds of any other country
but Iceland are ever heard of. On the other hand, though many of the
Norwegian settlers in Iceland had been celebrated vikings, similar
pursuits seem never to have prevailed in that country. [Nicol’s
Iceland, p. 119. 2
ibid., p. 100.]
It is said. that Ulfliot, an Icelander, who was
entrusted with the duty of providing a form of government for the island,
went to Norway, that he might study the institutions of that country.
Having stayed three years there, he returned to Iceland and framed a code
of laws, which was accepted by the national assembly in the year 928.
These laws, we are further told, were not committed to writing till two
centuries after Ulfliot’s death. [Ibid, p. 100] The improbability of the
Icelanders taking a lesson from the Norwegians in government, has already
been sufficiently illustrated. There is every likelihood that the
Norwegians, who settled in Iceland in large numbers in the ninth century,
should have introduced there some of their pagan customs and
superstitions; but that the whole, or even many, of the Icelandic beliefs,
manners, customs, and institutions should have been imported from Norway,
there is no reliable evidence to prove. It would be more reasonable to
infer that a cultivated and intelligent race like the Icelanders had
introduced into Norway some of the customs prevailing in their native
land, and thus account for similar customs being observed in the two
countries. There was frequent intercourse between them after the Norwegian
colonization. Grim says that the Icelandic language is the true source of
all the Teutonic languages; and it is possible that the same may be said
of many Teutonic beliefs, arts, sciences, and institutions. Proofs will be
brought forward in another treatise to show that the Norman architects not
improbably learned much of their science from the Icelanders ; and many of
the Norman manners and customs of France are known to have a general
resemblance to the lcelandic, not excepting even trial by jury. "Most of
the laws and customs which prevailed in Scandinavia were transplanted to
other countries by the colonies that settled in different parts of Europe.
In Iceland they were brought to a remarkable degree of perfection (thus
indicating their origin). They followed the Saxons and Danes into England,
where they were revived by Alfred and Canute. . . .
The Normans carried their native usages into France." [Scandinavia,
by Crichton and Wheaton, vo!, 1. p. 193,]
A few additional notices of the manners, customs, and
institutions of the ancient Icelanders may be given. They afford further
evidence of the advanced state of civilization which prevailed among them.
War, properly speaking, is unknown in their annals. [Nicol’s
Icelend, p. 88, ] Their edifices were of vast extent, and the
wooden columns which supported them were adorned with carved human figures
and runie crosses. The sculpture displayed by these was remarkably good,
as the remains still found in Iceland testify. Horse-racing, bowls,
quoits, wrestling, and swimming were favourite amusements. Money is said
to have changed hands at the races in much the same manner as at Epsom or
Newmarket. Fines, generally of three marks, are frequently mentioned in
the Gragas. The legal rate of interest was 10 per cent. Composers of
libels are as rigorously dealt with in the Gragas as in a modern Act of
Parliament; and it is worthy of notice that their definition of a libel is
much the same as that which prevails in Britain at the present day, while
it differed materially from that of the Norwegians. The Icelanders never
had more than one lawful wife, though concubines are sometimes alluded to.
[Mallets Antiquities, Bohn’s Edition, various
pages.] The Norwegians were not so constrained in their choice of a
wife. "Polygamy appears not to have been confined to kings and great men
(in Norway); for we find in the old Icelandic law book, called the ‘Grey
Goose,’ that in determining the mutual rights of succession of persons
born in either country, Norway or Iceland, in the other country it is
provided that children born in Norway in bigamy should have equal rights
as legitimate children—which also proves that in Iceland civilization was
advanced so much further than in Norway that bigamy was not lawful there,
and its offspring not held legitimate." [Laing’s
Heimskringla, vol. 1, p. 102.]
The Gragas is the name given to the laws and precedents
as they existed in Iceland about the year 1117, at which time they were
collected by the most experieneed juriconsuls, and having been submitted
to public discussion at the hands of the principal legislative assembly,
were approved of and digested into a regular code. It is said to be almost
overloaded with legal formularies. "Every judicial proceeding has its
prescribed form, the manner in which the action and the defence are to be
conducted, witnesses summoned, evidence given, verdict pronounced, &c.,
are detailed with the greatest minuteness, and the omission of a single
phrase in any one of these formularies sufficed to render the judgment
invalid. . . . A wealthy Icelander was always
ambitious to plead a cause before the Althing, and the greater proficiency
he showed in the art of prolonging or involving it by having recourse to
legal quibbles, the greater was his celebrity." [Mallet’s
Antiquities, Bohn’s Edition, pp. 297 and 298.] Whether any country
or people, even of the middle ages, could show as complete and perfect a
code of laws as this, is questionable. And it is certain that none of
these in force now can exceed the Gragas in the rigorousness of its
enactments for the protection of life and property, nor in the
philanthropy which pervades those relating to the management of the poor.
Mallet says these latter could have been studied with advantage by the
legislators of the nineteenth century. The Icelandic laws for the
protection of property, and for its inheritance, are said to have been
much superior to those of Norway and the Germanic states of the same
period; while the mildness of the laws dealing with insolvent debtors were
in marked contrast to the barbarity with which bankrupts were treated in
Norway. [Ibid., pp. 300-308,]
Referring to a court constituted much in the same
manner as our trial by jury, and for which we are supposed to be more
indebted to our Scandinavian than our Saxon ancestors, Schiegel is quoted
as saying:—"It is a remarkable fact that a
tribunal similar to that which the French legislators of the present day
so justly pride themselves in having established, should have existed in
Iceland in the beginning of the eleventh century." [Mallet’s
Antiquities, Bohn’s Edition, p. 292.] Trial by jury seems never to
have been developed in Norway, and it only struck faint roots in the
Danish and Swedish laws. [Burton’s Ultima
Thule, vol. i. p. 120.]
Another peculiar feature in the character of the
ancient Icelanders was their love of history, as detailed by the Skalds
and Sagamen; and as it evidently reflects the influence wielded by the
Christianity of the earliest settlers, it will be interesting to treat of
it at some length. That a country cut off from the rest of the world by
its northern and isolated situation should have produced writers whose
works are quoted as authorities on the history of Denmark, by the
historians of that country, seems surprising. "But this wonder," Torfaeus
says, "will cease when the reader shall be informed that from the earliest
times the inhabitants of Iceland have had a particular fondness for
history, and that from among them have sprung those poets, who, under the
name of Skalds, rendered themselves so famous throughout the north for
their songs." [Mallet’s Antiquities, Boha’s
Edition, p. 75.] From the preliminary dissertation to Laing’s
edition of the Heimskringla, we learn that the Skalds belonged exclusively
to Iceland. No Skalds are heard of in any other country, not even in
Norway. "Almost all the old Norse poems and Sagas that have been handed
down to us were either collected or written by Icelanders." [Mallet’s
Antiquities, Bobn’s Edition, p. 276.]
The Skald recited the praises of kings and heroes in
verse, whilst the Saga-men recalled the memory of the past in prose. The
constant practice of their powers enabled them to attain a high degree of
perfection, and the memory was strengthened by being made the depositary
of the national history. The public assemblies presented occasions which
these poets and historians were not slow to take advantage of, and the
people were ever ready to embrace the opportunity of listening to the lays
and the stories which recounted the mighty deeds of their ancestors. Thus
the events of past ages were handed down from generation to generation,
until they were reduced to writing, and became permanent records of an
illustrious and enlightened people. There can be little doubt that almost
all the historical notices of the northern nations now extant are derived
from Icelandic records. "Thus Iceland, at a time when ignorance and
obscurity pervaded the rest of Europe, was enabled to produce a
considerable number of poets and historians." [Von
Troil’s Letters on Iceland, in Pinkerton’s Collection of Voyages,
&c., vol. i. p. 651.] After
mentioning that the bishop of Hoolum, in the year 1120, was surprised at
finding one of his scholars reading Ovid’s letters, Von Troil adds:-
"At a time when no great knowledge of the Latin
language could he expected even in Sweden, an Icelander, however, was
found of sufficient capacity and learning to instruct the young people to
read and understand the Latin poets. We need
only read their ancient chronicles to be convinced that they had great
knowledge in morality, philosophy, natural history, and astronomy. They
had tolerably clear ideas of divinity also, and used to read the fathers."
[Von Troll’s Letters on Iceland, in
Pinkerton’s Collection of Voyages, &e., vol. 1. p. 670.]
The Skaldic verses were not trusted entirely to memory,
for before the Roman letters were introduced it was the custom to engrave
them in Runic characters on wooden staves. These characters are said to
have been introduced by Odin. The use of this mode of writing was very
ancient in the north, and was probably brought from the east by the Goths.
The letters resemble those of the Greek, Etrurian, and Celtiberian
alphabets more than the Roman. They were the most common mode of writing
known to the Icelanders till the end of the twelfth century. They were
chielly employed in inscriptions on public monuments, and in letters
inscribed on a wooden staff. It is said that they fell into bad repute
from being employed in magic rites, and on that account they were
discouraged by the clergy. [Nicol’s
Iceland, pp. 117, 144, 145, and note.]
That they were discouraged by the Roman clergy is likely; but more
probably because they were used by Christians whose tenets were not in
harmony with theirs than for any other reason.
After learning all this it is not surprising to find a
writer saying: "If a
strict comparison were instituted between the social condition of Iceland
and that of other countries, we should probably be induced to place it
rather above than below the average standard of civilisation that
prevailed in Europe during these barbarous ages [Mallet's
Antiquities, Bohn’s Edition, p. 360.] It cannot otherwise be
accounted for that a people living in such a remote island should acquire
such a taste for literature, than by believing that they must have been
indebted to the earliest known settlers, or their descendants, for some
Christian teaching. It is said that while they were heathens the Icelandic
annalist's were always deemed the best in the north. But, besides the fact
that there is no good evidence to show that they
ever were heathens, it is more in accordance with history and experience
to believe that a people who were so fond of histoiy and poetry, and could
even rise to the perception of the most refined mental pleasures, were
Christians. And there is every reason to think that some of the Christians
who inhabited the island before it was colonised by the Norwegians had
remained and diffused a knowledge of that religion which ennobles and
elevates all who come in contact with it.
It is possible, doubtless, for a people or nation to be
highly civilised without being Christians, but when the civilisation of
the Icelanders is known to have been accompanied by the Profession of
Christianity by the earliest settlers and a number of the largest
Norwegian landowners in the island, it is difficult to believe that the
advanced ideas of the inhabitants of this northern isle were not the
result of the influence and teaching of Christian instructors. Everything
in the condition of the people, when they are said to have first embraced
the Christian faith, points to the conclusion that many, if not most of
them, were Christians before then. Their belief was almost identical to
that which prevails in England now. Their customs were similar to
those of the Christian communities of the present day. And their ideas of
government, both local and imperial, were as humane as those which are
current among ourselves in this present enlightened nineteenth Christian
century.
When we come to deal with the linguistic and the
archeological evidence, we hope to be able to show that an intimate
relationship existed between the earliest inhabitants of Iceland and the
inhabitants of north-eastern Scotland. The ancient Scots, it is well
known, were as celebrated as their contemporaries, the Icelanders, for
learning and art. Their fame, like that of their northern friends, also
spread far and wide; and even at the present day we admire the art
depicted on their tombstones, as much as we do the acumen displayed in
framing such a code of laws as the Gragas. Both were certainly wonderful
for the times that produced them; and neither the beauty of the one nor
the leaning and humanity exhibited by the other have been excelled in our
own day, which can boast of the added experience of other ten centuries. |
