By eevenden
Halló allir! (Hello everybody!)
When people talk about Iceland, one the first things that comes to mind is “Vikings”. Famous for its sagas and home to Leif Ericsson, Iceland is often stereotyped as the ancient home for Nordic Gods, warriors, blacksmiths, etc., etc. As a foreigner, it can be very difficult to separate fact from fiction here, since (in America) we do not learn much about northern Europe, and, as tourists, we want to believe these interesting myths about Vikings. However, it is important to know that much of the “Viking history” of Iceland is exaggerated for tourism, and in fact, few people would consider themselves decedents of Vikings. While I am here, I am taking a class about Icelandic culture, where we’ve talked a bit about the history of Iceland. So I would like to share some of the information I have learned in order to counteract a bit of the stereotyping we have abroad.
In our class, we’ve learned that the common historical narrative for Iceland tends to look like this (see below), with the “prosperous times” of Iceland being associated with independence, and the “unprosperous times” being associated with foreign rule. However, this trend is not necessarily true, since the good and bad times of Iceland also correlate with climate changes. While Iceland was under foreign rule, it was also experiencing the Little Ice Age, which made life here much more difficult.
To start from the beginning, Iceland was most likely colonized around 871 by Scandinavian and British farmers. Most likely, Iceland was visited before this for fishing purposes, and even inhabited before this time by Irish Monks. However, 871 marks the year when permanent settlement began, and this date has been estimated by comparing literary and geological data. Iceland is actually the youngest European society, despite the perception of it being very old.
Settlers consisted mostly of farmers and their families, including women, children, farm workers, and slaves. When these people arrived in Iceland, they primarily lived on individual farms, not in towns. “Viking” is not a very accurate term to describe these settlers, since in Nordic countries, Vikings are often associated with pillaging and theft. The majority of people who settled in Iceland did not participate in Viking raids – though of course some did. In this respect, there are no “Viking” children and few “Viking” women, since these two demographics rarely or never participated in Viking activities. It is only recently that calling oneself a “Viking” has become popular in Iceland, and – according to my professor – this is strongly correlated with the increase in tourism and the redefining of Icelandic history.
From about 930 – 1262, Iceland was considered a free state or a commonwealth. The society was independent, but had no central, executive power. Instead, the land was broken up into several areas which were represented by chieftains, who would meet at the AlÞingi (pronounced “Althingi,” the Medieval Icelandic parliament) once or twice a year. The laws of Iceland were not written at this time, so there was one elected official known as the “Law Speaker,” whose job was to memorize all the laws of Iceland and recite them orally. This position was probably the closest thing to an executive power that Iceland had during the Medieval Ages. Again, according to my professor, some people now romanticize this “leaderless” society as egalitarian, but it is important to remember that women had no political voice at this time, and slavery was very prominent, so it was by no means a fair society.
A big change came to Iceland in 1000 C.E., when the AlÞingi unanimously voted to convert the entire island from Norse paganism to Christianity. This was in accordance with changes in other Nordic countries, and – if I remember correctly – they voted to do this in order to limit any civil divisions. Though Iceland was officially Catholic from this point until the Reformation, the parliament made some exceptions to the orthodox rules in order to make the transition easier, including allowing people to worship the Norse gods in secret, and allowing them to eat horse meat even though the Catholic Church was very against this. The arrival of Christianity to Iceland brought new prosperity to the island in the form of education. Churches became the vector for literacy by educating Icelandic children and also publishing religious texts in both Latin and Icelandic. Iceland is one of the only places where education was mandatory and enforced for children during this time. This marked the beginning of a great literary tradition in Iceland. Even today, some of the most celebrated, historic Icelanders are writers.
In the latter half of the 11th century, political power was concentrated in the hands of only a few chieftains in Iceland, who began to fight amongst themselves. Eventually this struggle for power lead Icelanders to pledge allegiance to the Norwegian monarchy in order to limit political divisions. Some other theories as to why Iceland gave up its independence stem from its religion and the climate. Though Iceland was officially Christian, it had no leader with the divine-right (chosen by God, like a King). Therefore, it made sense at the time to join a monarchy in order to remain true to the faith. In addition, the climate was steadily worsening at this point as the Little Ice Age arrived, meaning there was less food available in Iceland. Joining a monarchy would ensure that Iceland received shipments of food, wood, and other essentials. In 1397, the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish monarchies would join together as the Kalmar Union, but this dissolved about one hundred years later, and eventually Iceland was transferred to the Danish monarchy in 1814.
Life under different monarchies was quite difficult for Iceland because trade was completely monopolized. Only a few merchants supplied all foreign goods to Iceland, and Icelanders could only legally buy goods from their local merchant. Additionally, the island experienced several plagues and natural disasters (earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) which historically scarred the people. There is almost no literature preserved from this time, marking foreign rule and the Little Ice Age as an intellectually and culturally depraved times in Iceland.
On a more positive note, being a part of Denmark meant more Icelanders could receive higher education. Since there was no universities in Iceland until 1911, Icelanders who attended university almost exclusively went to Copenhagen to study. This provided a new avenue for arts and philosophy to travel to Iceland. Ironically, it was university students educated in Denmark who would lead the fight for Icelandic independence as Romanticism swept continental Europe during the 1830s.
During this time, Jón Sigurđsson emerged as the prominent voice in Iceland’s fight for independence. As a scholar and politician, he used a number of Icelandic texts to form written arguments as to why Iceland should be independent. His work was supported by other Icelandic students, such as the poet Jónas Hallgrímsson (Iceland’s most celebrated poet and national icon), who wrote poetry and essays romanticizing Iceland's natural beauty. These academics inspired a new national identity for Iceland, and persuaded the Icelandic public that they were a separate entity from Denmark. In 1874, Iceland gained limited Home Rule, and was allowed to write its own constitution. Later, Iceland gained full independence in 1944 when Denmark fell under German control during WWII. The push for independence, accompanied by an improving climate, mark the transition from the unprosperous to the prosperous times in the traditional historical narrative of Iceland.
It was during this time that Iceland also began to experience some industrialization. Previously, many Icelanders had relied on subsistence farming and had supplemented their livelihood with fishing during the winter. Though the country had been exporting fish in limited quantities since the 14th century, fishing did not become the prominent industry in Iceland until the late 1800s when schooners, a type of boat known for its speed and easy-handling, became popularized. Later, trawlers allowed for truly industrial-scale fishing in Iceland. Few foreigners know that, today, Iceland’s economic territory expands 200 nautical miles from its shores, meaning its maritime territory is 9x bigger than the island itself.
I’ve covered a lot of things in the blog post so far, but the final thing I would like to discuss is U.S. military presence in Iceland following World War II, since it played a significant role in shaping modern Icelandic political and economic discussions.
In 1940, Iceland was occupied by British troops in order to limit the spread of German influence to the island nation. Soon after, the British transferred military control of Iceland to their ally, the United States, who built a large base in Keflavik (which is now used as the International Airport). Military presence became a contentious issue in Iceland, as you can imagine, because the country was committed to neutrality. However, the U.S. military also provided employment to many Icelanders through auxiliary industries such as construction and infrastructure, and even entertainment. Many internationally-known Icelandic bands and musicians come from Keflavik since the bands there had many more opportunities to perform for officers and had more international influence and connections.
Additionally, following World War II, Iceland received a lot of Marshall Aid from the U.S., despite the fact that the country had experienced no damages during the war. With money pouring in, Iceland could afford many infrastructural improvements and could establish a Nordic-style social welfare system, which had previously been financially-impossible. In return, the U.S. was allowed to keep its base in Iceland after the war, and Iceland helped Western countries establish NATO (again, despite its commitment to neutrality, which angered many people). Financially, it might seem that Iceland benefited a lot by being closely connected to America. However, this relationship caused a lot of debate in Iceland over the country’s independence, political corruption, exploitation of natural resources, etc. One of the biggest political and economic battles in Iceland (until the Recession in 2008) was over the construction of heavily-polluting aluminum smelters which would provide cheap aluminum to the U.S. military and economic stability to Iceland, in return for pollution and the destruction of some of Iceland’s natural landscapes. This political battle was so controversial that there is a documentary made about it, which you can watch here.
I think it is very, very important to learn about the military influence of the U.S. on Iceland and how it affected the people here. In America, we are always taught that our country, despite mistakes, is great and fighting for justice and democracy. Even when being critical of U.S.’s foreign influence, there is an inherent belief that America can improve upon its past. (Having said this, in case some non-Americans read this, there are many Americans who are extremely critical of U.S. military involvement – including myself. Despite these cultural ideals, foreign involvement is a very controversial topic, and most people are not naïve enough to believe there are no consequences.) Also, as a regular civilian, the U.S. military can seem like an omnipresent force that I do not have any control over and can’t really understand. But by learning about it here, and seeing how the presence of just one military base can influence a country (let alone military conflict), I am more informed about how influential our massive military is – both in good and bad ways. If one military base can cause massive political conflict in Iceland, imagine how the U.S. military has impacted Kuwait or Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s a problem and scale I can hardly comprehend.
Anyway, on that cheery note, that’s all I have for this week! The weather here is supposed to improve a lot next week, so hopefully I will have more positive things to talk about! Also, I would like to credit my professor, Jón Yngvi, for much of the information and insight I passed on in this blog post!
- Emily