Lögberg (), or Law Rock, was a rocky outcrop in south west

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, at the location for the assembly of the country's

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The original Althing was gathered at

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland ...

, an area of dramatic landscapes which was easily accessible from the populated areas of the south west. The exact location of the Lögberg is unknown, because of the changing geography of the

rift valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear d ...

over 1000 years. Two possible locations have been identified in Þingvellir, one a flat ledge at the top of a slope named Hallurinn (currently marked by a flagpole), the other in the Almannagjá fault against a rock wall. A site in the Hestagjá ravine has been put forward as ideal. The Lögberg was the place on which the

Lawspeaker A lawspeaker or lawman ( Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic: , Faroese: '' løgmaður'', Finnish: ''laamanni'', kl, inatsitinuk) is a unique Scandina ...

( ) took his seat as the presiding official of the assembly of the

. Speeches and announcements were made from the spot. Anyone attending could make their argument from the Lögberg. The gatherings were also convened and dissolved from it. The Lögberg performed its purpose from the formation of the parliament in 930. It ceased to be used in 1262, when Iceland took allegiance to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Gallery

Law speaker.jpg, 19th-century rendering of the Law Rock in

Law Rock.jpg, The site of the Law Rock in modern Þingvellir Alþingi Lögberg aerial panorama.jpg, Alþingi Lögberg aerial panorama, taken in June 2017

References

Medieval Iceland {{Iceland-geo-stub