Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/492

ICELAND the Norwegian occupution, had not attained its full power before 1874, when the nc-w Constitution granted by the Kinj; of Denmark endowed it with eomplete legislative aulhority. The Allhin)> consists of 'Mt nu'n»lH'rs, of whom .30 are elected by the people, and 6 appointed by the Crown. Jt is eonvened every two years, and is divided into two chambers, of which the u|i|K"r is com- posed of six elected, and as many appointed mem- bers, and the lower one consists of 24 elected members. For purposes of administration the island is divided into three districts — the South, the West, and the North and Kast — administered by two oflieials liavinj; their seats at Reykjavik and .Vkreyri. The districts are subdivided into 20 smaller divisions known as syssels. and achiiin- istered by sherilfs, who perform the functions of tax collectors, and judges of first instance. At Reykjavik there is a court of second instance from which appi'als are made to the Supreme Court at Copenhagen. The revenue is derived fiom customs and tax on spirits, tobacco, coffee, and sugar. Elementary e<lucation is well pro- vided for. and the number of illiterates is re- markably small. Th<'re are also a number of higher schools, a theological seminary, and a col- lege at Reykjavik, with about )0 students. For religiovis purposes Iceland forms a separate bishopric in the Lutheran Church.

PopiLATiox. Tlie jiopulation. estimated at ■over 40.000 at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was 72.422 in 1880: 70.027 in ISitO. The birth-rate is large, but it is offset by the large infant mortality resulting from the severity of the climate. Tlie Icelanders are of Scandinavian origin, and lielong exclusively to the Lutheran Church. They live mostly on isolated farms, there being verj- few settlements.

History, fceland was not visited bv Euro- peans, as far as is known, until the end of the <'ighth century, when some Celts landed on the island, but its historj- really dates from about 870, when various Norsemen discovered it, chief- ly by accident. One of these, Floki Vilgerthar- f.on, gave it its present name. Soon thereafter the Scandinavians came in large numl>ers, owing to the despotism of Harold llaarfagr (q.v.) at home, and permanent settlements were made, among them the present capital, Reykjavik. The settlements were all independent of one another, rnd for some time the only bond of union was furnished by their common religion, until finally in 927 one Ulfljotr was sent to Norway to pre- pare a code of laws. He did so. returning in O.IO. His Constitution provided for a yearly assembly, but all det.iils are lacking to us. Many legal changes, however, had to take place before even a semblance of order juevailed in Iceland. In time, regular territorial divisions appeared, and a system of law very similar to that of Anglo- Saxon England. The most important event in the early history of Iceland was the conversion of its inhabitants to Christianity. The first mis- f-ionarj- was Thorvaldr Kothranson. who came in flSl. but after five years left the country, having tailed utterly. More suecessful was the attempt made under the auspices of King Olaf TTTgg%'a- son of Xorway (99.5-1000). who introduced Christianity, chiefly by force, in the year 1000. Vnder the influence of the new religion civiliza- tion gradually spread, and the laws became milder. T'ntil WO^ Iceland l>elonged to the prov- ince of the .rclibishop of Bremen, later to that of Lund. Meanwhile the kings of Norway re- garded Iceland with a jealous eye, for it was a plaee of refuge for all their reliellious subjects, but all attempts to conquer it failed for many years. The history of the island was mainly one of rivalries of dilferenl chiefs, and about the be- ginning of the twelfth century all the contests in the laud were connected with those of the three sous of Sturie, the historian Snorri, Tliord, and Sieghvat, the most powerful chiefs of their time, lly marriage and oilier means, Sturie Thord.son had become qodnr, or supreme magistrate, of sev- eral provinces, for these olliees were hereditary in certain families. These olliees he traiismitled to his s<ms. w lio. however, were unable to agree. Finally, in 122, Norway having been appealed to, King Hakon of that country induced Uelaiid to join its fortunes to that of Norway. The pros- perity of the country from that time onward rapidly declined as strict navigation laws were enforced. In 1380 Iceland, joined together with Norway, came under the Crown of Denmark. Much of the subse(juent history of the island is filled with the relation of physical evils which desolated the land, and eirectually subdued the .spirit of its inhabitants. Thus there were re- peatedly severe volcanic eruptions, and between 1402 and 1 404 the black death depopulated the island, sweeping away, it is said, two-thirds of the population. In 1540 Christian 111. of Den- mark iH'gan to introduce into Iceland the Refor- mation, whieh rapidly prevailed throughout the whole country. Its history since that time has been on the whole scarce in striking events. During the Napoleonic wars England captured it, but gave it back to Denmark by the Treaty of Vienna in 181.5. The Althing or Legislative As- sembly, which had existed since the earliest times, was now dissolved, but was reorganized in 1843. For many years constitutional conllicts with Denmark went on, whieh were finally amicably settled in 1874. Since then Iceland has had practically home rule.

BinLiormApny. Nicol, An Bisloricnl and De- rrriplirr Account of Iceland. GrevnJnnd. and the Faroe Islands (.3d ed.. Edinburgh. 1844): Kbel, Ocofiraphischc Xntiirkundi ton Island (Kiinigs- berg. 18.50): Forbes, Iceland (London, 1800); Lindsay. "'Flora of Iceland," in F.dinhurqh I'hil- csophicnl Journal (Edinburgh, 1801): Baring- Gould, Iceland (London. 1804); Maurer, Island von seiner ersten Entdechunq bis ztim Vnterganfje des Freistaates (Munich, 1874) ; Kaalund, Bid- rag til en historisk-lopofirafisk Heskrivelse af Island (Copenhagen. 1877-82) ; Headley. The Island of Fire (Bostim, 187.5) : Burton, I'llimn Thule, vol. i. (Edinburgh. 1875) ; JIaurer, Zur politischen flesehichte Islands (Leipzig. 1880); Ott#, Denmark and Iceland (Tx)ndon. 1882) ; Peestion, Island, das Land und seine Betcohner (Vienna, 1885) ; Schweitzer, Island (Leipzig, 1885) ; Baumgartner, Island und die Farrier (Freiburg. 1889): De Groote, Island (Brussels, 1890) ; McConnick, A Ride Across Iceland (l>on- don, 1892) : several articles in Ccoqrafisk Tids- krift (Copenhagen. 18971001) : Komerup. Is- land (Copenhagen. 1900) ; Thon-ald Thoroddsen, Gcschichte der islandischen Geographic (Leipzig, 1898).  ICELANDIC LANGUAGE. With the Norwegian popular dialects and Faroese, Icelandic forms the West Norse subdivision of the Scandi- 