HISTORY OF ICELAND. 



89 



CATHEDRAL AT KETKJAVIK. 



CHAPTER VI. 



HISTORY OF ICELAND. 



Discoverj' of the Island bj' Naddodr in 861.— Gardar.— Floki of the Ravens.— Ingolfr and Leif.— Ulfliot 

 the Lawgiver.— The Althing.— Thingvalha.-Introduction of Christianit3-into the Island.— Frederick 

 the Saxon and ThorwoldtheTraveller.—Thangbrand.— Golden Age of Icelandic Literature.— Snorri 

 Sturleson.— The Island submits to Hakon, King of Norway, in 1254.— Long Series of Calamities.— 

 Great Eruption of the Skapta Jokul in 1783.— Commercial Monopoly.— Better Times in Prospect. 



THE Norse vikings were, as is well known, the boldest of navigators. They 

 possessed neither the sextant nor the compass ; they had neither charts 

 nor chronometers to guide them ; but trusting solely to fortune, and to their 

 own indomitable courage, they fearlessly launched forth into the vast ocean. 

 Many of these intrepid corsairs were no doubt lost on their adventurous expe- 

 ditions, but frequently a favorable chance rewarded their temerity, either with 

 some rich booty or some more glorious discovery. 



Thus in the year 861, Naddodr, a Norwegian pirate, while sailing from his 

 native coast to the Faeroe Islands, was drifted by contrary winds far to the 



