Íslendingabók
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Ari inn fróði, Íslendingabók, chapters 1-7
Prologue
I first composed Íslendingabók for our bishops Þorlákr and Ketill, and I presented it both to them and to Sæmundr the priest. And when it pleased them to have it thus or to add something, I wrote it in the same fashion, without genealogies and biographies of kings, and added what become known to me later and which now is more fully declared in this one than that one. But whatever is incorrect in this scholarship, one should consider better what is proven to be truer.
Hálfdan hvítbeinn [white-leg], king of the people of Uppland [Upplendingar], son of Óláfr trételgja [tree-feller] king of the Svíar, was the father of Eysteinn fretr [fart], father of Hálfdan inn milda [the gentle] and inn matarilli [the food-stingy], father of Goðröðr veiðikonungr [hunting-king], father of Hálfdan inn svarti [the Black], father of Haraldr inn hárfagri [the handsome-hair], who was the first of this dynasty to become the sole king over all of Norway.
This manuscript contains the following chapters: 1. On the settlement of Iceland 2. On the first settlers [landnámsmenn] and the establishment of the law [lagasetning] 3. On the establishment of the alþingi 4. On the counting of years 5. On the division into quarters 6. On the settlement of Greenland 7. On the coming of Christianity to Iceland 8. On foreign bishops 9. On Bishop Ísleifr 10. On Bishop Gizurr
Here begins the little book of Icelanders
1. On the settlement of Iceland
Iceland was first settled from Norway in the days of Haraldr inn hárfagri [the handsome-hair], son of Hálfdan inn svarti [=the black], at that time—according to the reckoning and telling of Teitr, my foster- father, the person whom I consider wisest, son of Bishop Ísleifr; and of Þorkell, my uncle, son of Gellir, who remembered far back; and Þuríðr daughter of Snorri the Chieftain, who was both very wise and not unreliable—when Ívarr son of Ragnarr loðbrókar [hairy-trousers] had Saint Eadmund, king of the English, killed. And that was eight hundred and seventy winters after the birth of Christ, as is written in his [Eadmund’s] saga.
There was a Norwegian called Ingólfr, of whom it is said truthfully that he was the first to travel from there to Iceland—when Haraldr inn hárfagri was sixteen years old, and on another occasion a few years later. He lived to the south in Reykjavík. Where Ingólfr first made landfall, to the east of Minþakseyri, is called Ingólfshöfði, but where he established his own property, to the west of Ölfossá, is called Ingólfsfell.
At that time, Iceland had woods growing between the mountains and the shore. Christians were here then, whom Scandinavians [Norðmenn] call Papar, but then they left, because they did not want to be here alongside heathen people. They left Irish books, bells and croziers, from which one can tell that they were Irishmen.
And then began a very great migration of people here from Norway, until King Haraldr forbade it, because he thought that otherwise his land would be deserted. Then they agreed that each person who was coming here and was not excepted from it, would have to pay the king five aurar. And it is said that King Haraldr was seventy years old, and got to be eighty. Those were the beginnings of the payment which is now called landaurar, and sometimes more was paid for that and sometimes less, until Óláfr inn digri [the stout] made it clear that each person who would travel between Norway and Iceland, except women/wives or those people whom he took with him, must pay the king half a mark. So Þorkell Gellisson told me.
2. On the first settlers [landnámsmenn] and the establishment of the law [lagasetning]
Hrollaugr, the son of Jarl Rögnvalr of Møre, lived to the east at Síða, from which come the people of Síðu [Síðumenn]. Ketilbjörn Ketilsson, a Norwegian, lived to the south as Mosfell inn efri, from which come the people of Mosfell [Mosfellingar]. Auðr, daughter of the Norwegian chieftain Ketill flatnef [flat-nose], lived to the west in Breiðafjörðr, from which come the people of Breiðafjörðr [Breiðfirðingar]. Helgi inn magri [the lean], a Norwegian, the son of Eyvindr austmaðr [Easterner], lived to the north in Eyjafjörðr, from which come the people of Eyjafjörðr [Eyfirðingar]. And when Iceland had become extensively settled, a Norwegian [austrænn] called Úlfljótr brought the first laws here from Norway—as Teitr told us—and they were called the Úlfljótslög [laws of Úlfljótr]. Úlfljótr was the father of Gunnarr, from whom the people of Djúpdalr [Djúpdælir] in Eyjafjörðr are descended. But those laws were mostly arranged in the same way as the Gulaþingslög [laws of the Gulaþing] or the counsel of Þorleifr inn spaki [the wise] Hörða-Kárason, where something had to be expanded or learned or arranged in another way. Úlfljótr was in the east in Lón. But it is said that Grímr geitskör [goat-hair], who on his advice explored the whole of Iceland before the alþingi [All-Thing] was established, was his foster-brother. And each person received a penny from him to take land here, and he gave that money afterwards to temples (?).
3. On the establishment of the alþingi
The alþingi was established on the advice of Úlfljótr and all the people of the land, in the place where it remains; and before that the þing was on Kjalarnes. Þorsteinn son of Ingólfr the settler [landnámamaðr], father of Þorkell máni [moon] the law-speaker held that, along with those chieftains who adopted it. But a man who owned land in Bláskógar was condemned for killing a slave or freedman. (He is known as Þórir kroppinskeggi [shrivelled beard], while his grandson is called Þorvaldr kroppinskeggi. He travelled afterwards to the Austfirðir [East-Fjords] and there burned his own brother Gunnar in—so said Hallr Óræksjuson. But the man who was murdered was called Kolr. The gorge where the body was found, which was afterwards called Kolsgjá [Kolr’s gorge], was named after him.) That land became general property, and the people of the land set it to the use of the alþingi. There is therefore a common right to gather wood for the alþingi in the woods and to pasture horses on the heaths. Úlfheðinn told us that.
Wise people have also said that after sixty years, Iceland was fully settled, so that there was no more left. Around that time, Hrafn, the son of Hæingr the settler [landnámamaðr], took the position of law-speaker following Úlfljótr, and held it for twenty years. He was from Rangárhverfi. That was sixty years after the slaying of King Eadmund, a year or two before the death of Haraldr inn hárfagri, by the reckoning of wise people. Þórarinn Ragabróðir, the son of Óleifr hjalti [hilt], took the position of law-speaker after Hrafn and held it another twenty years. He was from Borgarfjörðr [borbfirzkr].
4. On the counting of years
It was also at that time that the wisest people in the land had, over two half-years, counted four days into the fourth hundrað [hundrað=120; the fourth hundrað is the range 361‒480; so four days into the fourth hundrað is 364 days]; that makes two weeks into the sixth ten [the sixth ten is the range 51‒60; so two weeks into the sixth tegar is 52 weeks]; but the twelfth month of thirty nights and days makes four days extra. Then they noted from the passage of the sun that summer was slipping back towards the spring. But no-one was able to tell them that there was one day more than a whole number of weeks in two half-years, and that was the reason.
But there was a man called Þorsteinn surtr [black]. He was from Breiðafjörðr, the son of Hallsteinn Þórólfsson, a settler of Mostrarskeggi, and Ósk daugher of Þorsteinn inn rauði [the red]. He dreamt that he was at the Lögberg [Law-Rock], when there was a crowd there, and that he was awake even though everyone else was asleep. And after that he dreamt that he slept, and that everyone else was awake. Ósvífr Helgason, the grandfather of Gellir Þorkelsson, interpreted that dream thus: that everyone would maintain silence when he spoke at the Lögberg, but that afterwards, when he fell silent, everyone would shout in assent of what he had said. And they were both very wise men. And thereafter, when people came to the þing, he proposed the course at the Lögberg that every seventh summer, an extra week should be added, and to test how that was received. But just as Ósvífr predicted from the dream, everyone then ‘woke’ well to that, and it was thenceforth included in the law on the advice of Þorkell máni and other wise men. As the correct count, there are in each year five days of the fourth hundrað [i.e. 365 days] (if it is not a leap-year, in which case one more), but in our count there were four. But then every seventh year was augmented in our count by a week, XXXXX en engu at hinu, þá verða sjau ár saman jafnlöng at hvárutveggja. En ef hlaupár verða tvau á milli þeira, er auka skal, þá þarf auka it sétta. XXXXX
5. On the division into quarters
A great þing-dispute took place between Þórðr gellir, the son of Óleifr feilan from Breiðafjörðr, and Oddr, who was known as Tungu-Oddr and was from Borgafjörðr. Oddr’s son Þorvaldr, together with Hænsa-Þórir, was involved in the burning in of Þorkell Blund-Ketilsson in Örnólfsdalr; Þórðr gellir became the chief plaintiff in the suit because Hersteinn, the son of Þorkell Blund-Ketilsson, was married to Þórunn, his niece. She was the daugher of Helga and Gunnar, her sister Jófríð being married to Þorsteinn Egilsson. So Þorvaldr and Hænsa-Þórir were sued at the thing which was held in Borgarfjörðr, in the place which afterwards was called Þingness. At that time it was the law that a suit over a killing had to be prosecuted at the þing which was nearest to the site of the killing. But they fought there, and the þing could not be conducted legally. Þórólfr refr [fox] fell there, the brother of Álfr í Dölum [in the Dales], from the retinue of Þórðr gellir. And afterwards the plaintiffs went to the alþingi, and they also fought there. Then people from Oddr’s retinue fell, and then Hænsa-Þórir was condemned and later killed, and many of those who were involved in the burning. Then Þórðr gellir recounted at the Lögberg how badly it served people to travel to an unfamiliar þing to prosecute for a killing or to complain (?), and told what lay in his path before he could come to law through that suit, and said what kind of problem would eventuate if a better approach was not found.
The land was then divided into quarters, such that there were three þings in each quarter, and XXXXX skyldu þingunautar eiga hvar saksóknir saman XXXXX, except that in the northern quarter there were four, because they could not otherwise agree. Those who were to the north of Eyjafjörðr did not want to leave it to attend the þing, and nor did those in Skagafjörðr, who were to the west—although XXXXX skyldi jöfn dómnefna ok lögréttuskipun ór þeira fjórðungi sem ór einum hverjum öðrum XXXXX. And afterwards the quarter-þings were established. Thus Úlfheðinn Gunnarsson the law-speaker told us.
Þorkell máni, the son of Þorsteinn Ingólfsson, took the law-speakership after Þórarinn Ragabróðir and held it for fifteen years. Then Þorgeirr from Ljósavatn, the son of Þorkell, held it for seventeen years.
6. On the settlement of Greenland
The land which is called Greenland was discovered and settled from Iceland.
There was a man from Breiðafjörðr called Eiríkr inn rauði [the red], who travelled out from here and took land where later was named Eiríksfjörðr. He gave a name to the land and called it Greenland and said that people would be more eager to go there because the land had a good name. They found there people's habitations both to the East and the West on the land, pieces of skin boats, and worked stones, from which one could tell that that kind of people had travelled, who have settled Vínland and whom the Greenlanders call Skrælingjar. And when he began to settle the land, it was fourteen or fifteen winters before Christianity came here to Iceland, according to what he told to Þorkell Gellison, who himself followed Eiríkr inn rauði out to Greenland.
7. On the coming of Christianity to Iceland
King Óláfr, son of Tryggvi, son of Óláfr, son of Haraldr inn hárfagri, brought Christianity to Norway and Iceland. He sent a priest here to Iceland, Þangbrandr by name, who acquainted people with Christianity and baptised everyone who accepted the faith. And Hallr Þorsteinsson, from Síða, had himself baptised forthwith, as did Hjalti Skeggjason from Þjórsdalr; Gizurr inn hvíti [the white], son of Teitr from Mosfell, son of Ketilbjörn; and many other chieftains. However, there were also many who spoke against it and refused it. And when he had been here for or or two years, he left—he had kill two or three men here, who had ritually insulted him. And when he came east he told King Óláfr everything which had happened to him here, and gave the impression that it was not to be expected that Christianity would take hold here yet. But the King grew very angry at that and planned to have those of our people who were there in the East maimed or killed for it. But that same summer Gizurr and Hjalti travelled out from here and convinced the king not to, and promised him that they would arrange a new attempt (?), so that Christianity might still be accepted here, and they gave the impression that they expected nothing other than to succeed there.
So the following summer they and a priest called Þormóðr travelled from the East and, with everything having gone well, arrived in the Vestmannaeyjar when ten weeks of the summer had passed. Teitr, who was himself there, said to report that thus. (The summer before it had been declared in the law that people had to come to the alþingi when ten weeks of the summer had passed thus, when up to that time they had come a week before.) And the travellers went from there to the mainland and on to the alþingi and heard from Hjalti that he was back in Laugardalr with twelve men because he had been condemned to three-year outlawry at the alþingi the summer before for decrying the gods. The reason for that was that he said this couplet at the Lögberg:
I don’t want to decry God/the gods; Vilk eigi goð geyja. I think Freyja’s a bitch. Grey þykki mér Freyja.
But Gizurr and his companions travelled until they came to the place by Ölfossvatn which is called Vellankatla, and they sent word from there to the þing that all their supporters had to come to meet them, because they had found out that their opponents wanted to bar them by force from the þing-plain. And before they departed, Hjalti and those who were back with him rode up to them. And thereafter they rode to the þing, and first their kinsmen and friends came to meet them, and they had requested. But the heathen people gathered together, full armed, and it was so near to coming to a fight that no-one could see a way out.
But the next day, Gizurr and Hjalti walked to the Lögberg and presented their mission there. And it is said that it was amazing how well they spoke. And because of that it turned out that one person named another as a witness, and each side—the Christian and the heathen people—declared the other outside their laws, and walked then from the Lögberg. Then the Christian men asked Hall of Síða to present their laws—the ones which the Christians had to follow. But he passed on the responsibility by striking a deal with Þorgeirr, that Þorgeirr the law-speaker should present them, though he was still heathen then. And afterwards, when everyone returned to their huts, Þorgeirr laid himself down and drew his cload over himself and stayed there all of that day and the following night and didn’t say a word. But the next morning he got up and announced that everyone had to go to the Lögberg.
And when the people had arrived there, he began his account, and said that it seemed to him that everyone’s situation would be untenable if they did not all share one law here in this country, and spoke before the people in various ways, that that must not be allowed to happen; and he said that the discord would ensue which was a certain outcome, that fighting would take place between people and the land be laid waste. He spoke about how the kings of Norway and Denmark had had dicord and wars between themselves for a long time, until the people of those countries made peace between them, even though they didn’t want it. And the way that negotiation turned out was that at times they sent each other precious gifts, and while they lived, that peace held. ‘And now it the idea suggests itself to me’, he said, ‘that we also should not accept the course where people fall into the greatest opposition, and let us settle on a compromise between them, so that both have their way to an extent, and we all have one law and one set of customs. It must be true that when we break the law in two, we will will also break our peace.’ And he closed his speech, such that both sides agreed that all had to have one law—the one which he suggested (?).
Then it was declared law that all people had to be Christian and accept baptism who had previously been unbaptised here in this country. But the exposure of children, along with the eating of horse-meat, would remain in the ancient law. People had to make sacrifices in secret, if they wanted to avoid three-year outlawry, which would happen if there were witnesses. And a few years later, that heathen practice was also taken away, like the others.
Teitr told us this account of how Christianity came to Iceland. And Óláfr Tryggvason fell the same summer, according to Sæmundr the priest. He fought then against King Sveinn Haraldsson of Denmark, Óláfr inn sænski [the Swede], the son of Eiríkr and king of the Svíar at Uppsala, and Eirík Hákonarson who was later the jarl over Norway. That was one hundred and thirty years after the slaying of Eadmundr, and a thousand after the birth of Christ in the universal reckoning.
