Medieval Iceland: Politics, Patronage and Power

At the beginning of this history, in the ninth century, Iceland was uninhabited save for fowl and smaller arctic animals. At its end, in the middle of the sixteenth century, it had embarked on a course that led to the creation of a small country on the outskirts of Europe. The history of medieval Iceland is to some degree a microcosm of European history, but in other respects it has a trajectory of its own. As in Medieval Europe, the evolution of the Church, episodic warfare, and the strengthening of the bonds of government had an important role. Unlike the rest of Europe, however, Iceland was not settled by humans until during the Middle Ages and it was without towns and any type of executive government until the late medieval period. This is a review of Icelandic history from the settlement until the advent of the Reformation, with an emphasis on social and political change, but also on cultural developments such as the creation of a particular kind of literature, known throughout the world as the sagas. A view of medieval Icelandic history as it has never been told before from one of its leading historians. It will be of interest to students and scholars alike interested in Icelandic and medieval history.