Acceptance of Christianity in Iceland in the Year 1000 (999) BY JÓNAS

It is difficult to provide a comprehensive analysis of the acceptance of Christianity in Iceland in a short essay and therefore, only a short précis of the Christianization of Iceland and its pre-history will be given here, The main aspects of the history of the formal acceptance of Christianity will be included, together with an appraisal of whether the commonly adopted interpretation of the pre-history of Christianity will stand. Finally, an attempt will be made to explain how the conclusions recorded by history came about. (In this paper, the year 1000 will be accepted without regard to the school of thought which accepts the year 999 as the year that Christianity was promulgated in Iceland.) 1. The beginnings of settlement in Iceland The history of the acceptance of Christianity in Iceland has often caused astonishment, and the question has been posed: How is it possible that Christianity was promulgated in this way in the Althing (the early Icelandic parliament), when heathens were in the majority. The only response has been to place a mysterious x over this event, Obviously, something is lacking in this explanation; it will not with-stand critical analysis. The brevity of the Scandinavian mission in Iceland in no way accounts for the strong position of Christianity in the country at the close of the tenth century. It is not known with any certainty what the population of Iceland was at this time, but it has often been estimated that is was about one fourth that of Norway. There is no possibility that an extremely small group of men could have converted a population of this size in such a short period of time, It has been customary to consider the settlement of Iceland to have begun with the arrival of the Norsemen, starting in 874, although this date is, mildly stated, doubtful, There are various indications that 224 RiNAS GiSLASON the Nordic settlement began shortly after 800, although this assertion will not be given greater consideration here. What is certain, is that the earliest Nordic settlers encountered Irishmen when they first set foot on Iceland; these Irishmen were hermits and monks, 'papar ' (islendingabac 1968, 5; Landnámabók 1948, 1). It is impossible to say how long these men had been livin