The people possessed an
excellent code of laws, in which provision had been made for every
case which could occur.
This state of things lasted for more than 300 years, a period which
may be called the golden age of Iceland. Education, literature, and
even refined poetry flourished among the inhabitants, who took part
in commerce and in the sea-voyages which the Norwegians undertook
for purposes of discovery.
The "Sagas," or histories of this country, contain many tales of
personal bravery. Its bards and historians visited other climes,
became the favourites of monarchs, and returned to their island
covered with honour and loaded with presents. The Edda, by Samund,
is one of the most valued poems of the ancient days of Iceland. The
second portion of the Edda, called Skalda, dates from a later
period, and is ascribed by many to the celebrated Snorri Sturluson.
Isleif, first Bishop of Skalholt, was the earliest Icelandic
historian; after him came the noted Snorri Sturluson, born in 1178,
who became the richest and mightiest man in Iceland.
Snorri Sturluson was frequently followed to the General Assembly of
Iceland by a splendid retinue of 800 armed men. He was a great
historian and poet, and possessed an accurate knowledge of the Greek
and Latin tongues, besides being a powerful orator.
