The state church of Iceland is the Lutheran; and all the
Icelanders, without exception, belong to it. One bishop
and 141 clergymen minister to the spiritual wants of the
islanders. The bishop is appointed by the king. The
parishes are 290, but the livings are only 141, from which
it may be seen that many ministers have to serve two, and
some even three parishes. The king appoints some of the
ministers, and the governor-general others, with the advice
of the bishop. The ministers are paid partly from the
revenues of church property, and partly from tithes.
Education.
The Icelanders have long been famous for their education
and learning, and it is no exaggeration to say that in no
other country is such an amount of information found
among the classes which occupy a similar position. A
child of ten unable to read is not to be found from one
end of the island to another. A peasant understanding
several languages is no rarity, and the amount of general
information which they possess might be envied by many
who have had greater facilities for acquiring knowledge.
Till within the last few years there were no elementary
schools in the island; all children were taught by their
parents or near neighbours. Now a few elementary
schools have been started, but their number is still too
small to make any general difference in the education.
For classical and general education there is a college at
Reykjavik, with seven professors and about one hundred
students. There is also a college for ministers, with three
professors. The general physician of the island, assisted by
two medical men, gives lectures to medical students; but
those who propose to enter the legal profession have to
attend the university of Copenhagen.
National characteristics.
There is less difference in the material prosperity of the
Icelanders than in that of the inhabitants of more advanced
countries. One does not find the abject poverty so often
seen in large towns and among the agricultural population
of some of the most civilized countries of Europe. On the
other hand, wealthy men, or owners of extensive properties,
are unknown, the richest man in Iceland deriving only
£300 a year from his property. Although no abject
poverty is seen, there are more paupers comparatively than
in more populous countries, and the poor-rates in many
parishes exceed all the other taxes put together. The
Icelanders are often too liberal in granting relief, which
in many cases breeds idleness, carelessness, and want of
forethought. It is also to be noticed that in few countries
is it so easy to live with as little labour as in Iceland.
On account of the climate, out-of-door work cannot be
conducted for more than five months of the year at most,
but even this time is not used, with so much energy and
skill as it might be. The haymaking, carried on for two
months in the year, is the only work which is prosecuted
with anything like energy. Fishing is prosecuted not
continuously but periodically. The want of activity among
the Icelanders is to be ascribed partly to their slow
temperament, and partly to their utter want of training. They
are very fond of gathering any amount of miscellaneous
information, but their want of training prevents them
from turning it to practical account. There is no doubt
that they are endowed with intellectual faculties of a
superior kind, and, with proper training, might make far
more of their country than they do at present. It appears
that the island could easily support eight times the number
of the present population, if its resources were properly
developed. Crime is rare; and the moral character of the
Icelanders is about the same as that of the other countries
of the north.
The census of 1870 returned the population of the island
as 69,763. In 1801 the population was only 46,240; in
1880 it is estimated to have increased to 73,000. The
birth-rate is about 33 per thousand, and the death-rate 24.
Nearly the whole of the population live on isolated farms,
the number of each family, including servants, being on an
average seven. The chief town or village is Reykjavík,
with about 2500 inhabitants. It is the seat of the
governor-general, the bishop, the colleges, and the superior
court. In the north-west is Isafjörður, with about 400
inhabitants, and in the north Akureyri, with the same
number. (J. A. H.)
Table of Icelandic Literature and History.
I. The Commonwealth. 400 years.
Heroic Age.
870- 930
930- 980
980-1030
Poetry of Western Islands.
Settlement by colonists from Western Isles and Norway.
Early Icelandic poets, chiefly abroad.
Constitution worked out—Events of earlier sagas take place.
Icelandic poets abroad.
Christianity comes in—Events of later sagas take place.
Saga Telling.
1030-1100
First era of phonetic change.
Peace—Ecclesiastical organization.
The Literary Age.
1100-1150
1150-1220
1220-1248
1248-1284
Ari and his school—Thorodd—Vernacular writing begins.
Saga-Writers—Second generation of historians.
First civil wars—1208-22—Rise of Sturlungs.
Snorri and his school—Biographers.
Second civil wars, 1226-58—Fall of Great Houses.
Sturla—Second era of phonetic change.
Change of law, 1271—Submission to Norwegian kings.
II. Mediævalism. 250 years.
Continental Influence chiefly Norse.
1284-1320
1320-1390
1390-1413
Collecting and editing—Foreign romances.
Foreign influence through Norway.
Annalists—Copyists—New Mediæval poetry begins.
Great eruptions, 1362 and 1389—Epidemics—Danish rule, 1380.
Death of old traditions, &c.
Epidemics—Norse trade—Close of intercourse with Norway.
Dark Age.
1413-1530
Only Mediæval poetry flourishes.
Isolation from Continent—English trade.
III. Reformation—Absolute Rule—Decay. 320 years.
Reformation.
1530-1575
Odd—Printing—Third era of phonetic change.
Religious struggle—New organization—Hanse trade.
Renaissance.
1575-1640
1640-1700
First antiquarians.
Danish monopoly—Pirates’ ravages.
Hallgrim—Paper copies taken.
Gradual Decay.
1700-1730
1730-1768
1768-1800
1800-1850
Jon Widalin—Arni Magnusson—MSS. taken abroad.
Increasing Decay.
Smallpox kills one-third population, 1707.
Great famine, 10,000 die, 1759—Sheep plague, 1762 —Eruption, 1765.
Great eruption, 1783.
Beginnings of recovery—Travellers make known island to Europe —Free constitution in Denmark, 1848.
Eggert Olafsson.
Finn Jonsson—Icelandic scholars abroad.
Rationalistic movement—European influences first felt.
IV. Modern Iceland.
Recovery of Iceland.
1850-1874
1874
Modern thought and learning—Icelandic scholars abroad.
Increasing wealth and population—Free trade, 1854 —Jon Sigurdsson and home rule struggle—Emigration.
Home rule granted.
History.
With its isolated situation, inclement climate, scant natural
advantages, and sparse population, Iceland is yet of high interest to
the historian, philologist, and litterateur. To the first the excellence
and exactitude of its historical records, the curious phases of life to
which they bear witness, and the singular circumstances which have
determined the existence and life of the Teutonic community for a
thousand years apart from the rest of the European family, are all
attractive. By the philologist the island is reverenced as the home
of a tongue which (though like our own it has suffered deep phonetic
change) yet most nearly represents in a living form the tongue of
our earliest Teutonic forefathers. And by many more than these
students Iceland is fondly regarded as the land where, long before
