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and folk-lore made by Hammershaimb and others, differs from the Icelandic chiefly in orthography and in the admixture of Danish words. The best Icelandic grammar is the German edition of Wimmer's Altnordische Grammatik (Halle, 1871); the best lexicons are Cleasby and Vigfússon's “Icelandic-English Dictionary” (Oxford, 1868-'74), to which an excellent grammar is prefixed, and for the early skaldic and eddaic poetry Sveinbjörn Egilsson's Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ Linguæ Septentrionalis (Copenhagen, 1860); the best chrestomathy is Dietrich's Altnordisches Lesebuch (Leipsic, 1864).—The Icelandic literature, which, with the exception of a few unimportant Norwegian productions, was written wholly in Iceland or by Icelanders, may be divided into two very marked periods, the ancient and the modern. The first terminated a century after the fall of the republic; the other comprises the period intervening between that date and the present time. Soon after the settlement of the island the genial influence of free government caused a marked development of the national spirit, which was early exhibited in the field of letters. The climate, as well as the isolated position of the island, had also much to do with it. In the long evenings of a long winter, an intelligent people would naturally have recourse to literature; and as soon as the introduction of Christianity brought with it the knowledge and use of the Latin alphabet, the earliest employment of the new gift was in writing out the pagan songs which had been orally transmitted from one generation to another. In such a manner the priest Sæmund Sigfússon, called “the learned” (1056-1133), or some other early scholar, compiled the elder or poetic Edda. (See Edda.) Besides these, the poetry that has come down to us from the days of the republic consists generally of songs of victory or of praise, elegies, and epigrams, in which latter the old skalds especially excelled. The most noted skalds of the 10th century are Bersi Torf usson, Egill Skallagrimsson (904-990), Eyvind Finsson, Glúm Geirason, Kormak Oegmundarson (died 967), Gunnlaug Hromundarson (983-1012), Hallfred Ottarson (died 1014), Thord Sigvaldaskald, and Thorleif Hakonarskald. The 11th century was very prolific of poets; we have Arnor Thordarson, Einar Helgason, Eirik, Gisli Illugason, Odd, Ottar, Sighvat, Skúli Thorsteinsson, Sneglu-Halli, Hallar-Steinn, Stein Skaptason, Stúfur Blindi, Thjódólf Arnórsson, Thorarin, and Thord Kolbeinsson. The 12th century presents the names of Bödvar, Einar Skúlason, Hall, Hallbjörn, Ivar Ingimundarson, and a host of others. In the 13th century we find scarcely any names but those of Einar Gilsson, Gudmund Oddsson, Ingjald Geirmundarson, and Olaf Thórdarson, showing that the loss of liberty had begun to affect the labors of the muse. The 14th century has little of value to show except the singular poem Lilja (“The Lily”), a song in honor of the Virgin by Eysteinn Asgrímsson. Nor were the historians and romancers less numerous. The sagas properly fall into two classes, fictitious and historical. Among the former are the Volsunga saga, Nornargests saga, the Vilkina saga (narrating the exploits of Diederich of Bern, and thus belonging to the same heroic cycle as the Heldenbuch and Nibelungenlied), Hálfs saga, “Saga of King Hrólf Kráka and his Champions,” “Saga of King Ragnar Lódbrók” (which contains the celebrated Lódbrókarkvida, or “Death Song of Lódbrók”), Frithiofs saga, Hervarar saga, Oervar Odds saga, the sagas connected with the Arthurian and Carlovingian cycles of romance, and Snorri Sturlason's “Younger or Prose Edda.” Some of these are in part historical, but it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false. Far more valuable as well as more numerous are the sagas of the historical class. They consist of histories in the largest sense of the word, of local and family histories, and of biographies. Of those which relate to Iceland, the most noted are the Islendingabók, by Ari Thorgilsson (1068-1148); the Landnámabók, a detailed account of the settlement of the island; the Kristin saga, a narrative of the introduction of Christianity into Iceland; Njáls saga, a classic composition; Gunnlaugs Ormstunga saga; Viga Glúme saga; Egils saga, the biography of a renowned poet and chieftain; Kormaks saga; Eyrbyggja saga, an abstract of which has been published by Sir Walter Scott; Laxdæla saga; Sturlunga saga, a history of the race of the Sturlungar, so important in Icelandic history, by one of its members, Sturla Thórdarson; and Grettis saga. The chief sagas relating to other countries are: the Orkneyinga saga, a history of the Orkneian jarls; the Færeyinga saga, relating to the Faroes; the Jomsvíkinga saga, an account of the sea rovers, whose seat was at Jomsburg near the mouth of the Oder; the Knytlinga saga, a history of the Danish kings from Harald Blaatand to Canute VI.; the sagas of Olaf Tryggvason, one by Odd (died 1200), and the other by Gunnlaug; the saga of St. Olaf; the Heimskringla, or “Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings,” by the celebrated statesman and historian Snorri Sturlason; and various minor sagas relating to Scandinavia, Russia, Great Britain, and Greenland. The most elaborate codes of law were the Grágás, Járnsída, Jónsbók, and Kristinréttur. Many of the works enumerated in this list are masterpieces of style, and are still read with delight by modern Icelanders. This list (and it contains but a few of the published sagas) shows the attention paid to the culture of letters in a remote corner of the world, at a time when the whole continent of Europe was sunk in barbarism and ignorance.—The second or modern period of Icelandic literature by no means commences with the termination of the old literature; a long time of utter mental inactivity followed, and the 15th and 16th centuries produced scarcely anything but a few