HOME





Grímur Geitskör
Grímur Geitskör (Grímur Goatshoe or Goatbeard) was responsible for establishing the Icelandic parliament Althing in what is now called the Assembly Plains or Þingvellir. In around 927-930 he made tour of Iceland and searched for the most appropriate place for the parliament. The place he chose was Bláskógar (the former name of Þingvellir) on the eastern edge of Þorsteinn Ingólfsson Þorsteinn is an Old Norse and Icelandic masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Þorsteinn Bachmann (born 1965), Icelandic actor *Þorsteinn Bjarnason (born 1957), Icelandic former professional footballer (goalkeeper) *Þorste ...'s estate. The location with its elevated cliff (part of the Atlantic ridge) and lake was chosen not only for its position with respect to important settlements but also because its owner had been found guilty of murder and had his land declared public. Grímur was the foster or half brother of Úlfljótr.Parnell, Fran and Brandon Presser (2010) L ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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 "assembly fields"), situated approximately east of what later became the country's capital, Reykjavík. Even after Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at until 1800, when it was discontinued. It was restored in 1844 by royal decree and moved to Reykjavík. The restored unicameral legislature first came together in 1845 and after 1874 operated in two chambers with an additional third chamber taking on a greater role as the decades passed until 1991 when Althing became once again unicameral. The present parliament building, the , was built in 1881, made of hewn Icelandic stone. The unicameral parliament has 63 members, and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation. The c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Þingvellir
Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter thorn (letter), "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Althing, Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland from the year 930 until the last session held at in 1798. Since 1881, the parliament has been located within Alþingishúsið in Reykjavík. is now a national park in the municipality of in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Iceland's capital, . is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American Plate, North American and Eurasian Plate, Eurasian tectonic plates. To its south lies , the largest natural lake in Iceland. National Park ( ) was founded in 1930, marking the 1000th anniversary o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Allsherjargoði
Allsherjargoði (, '' All-People Chieftain''; plural ''-goðar'' ) was an office in the Icelandic Commonwealth, held by the goði who held the ''goðorð'' of the descendants of Ingólfr Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland. The role of the ''allsherjargoði'' was to sanctify the Althing as it began every year. Þorsteinn Ingólfsson, son of Ingólfr Arnarson, was a ''goði'' when the Althing was founded in 930 and became the first ''allsherjargoði''. His son, Þorkell máni Þorsteinsson, inherited the office ca. 945 while at the same time being lawspeaker. He was succeeded by his son Þormóðr Þorkelsson, who held office from 984 to 1020. His son, Hamall Þormóðsson held office until 1055. Hamall had three sons, Þormóðr, Torfi and Már but it is not known who of the three inherited the office and for the following century it is not known who held the office. In 1160, Guðmundr gríss Ámundason, presumably a descendant of Hamall, was in office as ''allsherjargoði''. H ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Úlfljótr
Úlfljótr (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) brought law to Iceland and is regarded by some as Iceland's first ''Lawspeaker#Iceland, lawspeaker''. In around 927-930 AD Úlfljótr was sent to Norway by a group of chieftains to study law and culture and bring back to Iceland sufficient understanding to help establish Iceland's legal framework and form of government. And while he was in Norway, where he stayed for around three years, Grímur Geitskor, Úlfljótr's half-brother, made a survey of Iceland to find the best place for the establishment of the Althing. Úlfljótr is commemorated with the first law enacted at the Alþing, Úlfljót's Law, with the lake Úlfljótsvatn (lake), Úlfljótsvatn and by the ''Law review#Nordic countries, Úlfljótur Law Review''.Natural Iceland: Ulfljotsvatn
(Accessed Feb 2011) ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Íslendingabók
''Íslendingabók'' (, Old Norse pronunciation: , ''Book of Icelanders''; ) is a historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally existed in two different versions but only the younger one has survived. The older contained information on Norwegian kings, made use of by later writers of kings' sagas. The priest Jón Erlendsson in Villingaholt (died 1672) in the service of bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson made two copies of Íslendingabók (now AM 113 a fol and AM 113 b fol at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavík), the latter one because the bishop was unhappy with the first version. The original copied from is assumed to have dated to ca. 1200. It was lost in the course of the late 17th century, and when Árni Magnússon looked for it, it had disappeared without a trace. Style and sources ''Íslendingabók'' is a concise work which relates ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]