Althing, the first Parliament

The Althing by W.G. Collingwood

Considered to be the oldest parliament in the world, the Icelandic Althing (" the general assembly) began its functions more or less around the year 930 AD and with this setting the corner stone for the foundation of the Icelandic Nation. The yearly reunion of the assembly, where the most powerful and prominent members of the society (the Goðar) met to discuss on justice and solve problems of social interest, was at the same time the main event in the life of the first settlers of the Iceland, which attended the assembly during the weeks that it took place, either for curiosity, to solve some dispute or to put themselves up to day about the gossips and news concerning the country.

 The Althing was by all means, the center of the cultural life in Iceland and was first located in the vast plain known as “Thingvellir” ( The Parliament´s fields) some 40 kilometers west from Reykjavik. Peasants, chieftains, traders and even storytellers gathered together around the “Lögberg” (The Rock of the Law) where the president of the assembly, responsible for reciting the laws, had his seat (It is important to remark, that due of the fact that Iceland didn´t have a writting system, laws had to be memorized by those attending the assembly).

The Lögberg, center of the Althing activities. 

 

Even after Iceland became first under control of the Kingdom of Norway and later under that of Denmark, the Althing remained until 1800 when it was disbanded, although it suffered several modifications across the centuries, becoming more some sort of a High Court and losing its democratic background. With the raise of the democratic streams in Europe in the XIX century, the Althing was restored in 1845 and moved to Reykjavik, later residing in the “Althingishus”, a building built in 1881 and that is until present days the see of the Pairlament. Although with many restrictions, the members were elected by suffrage. By the early XX century, the Althing recovered fully parliamentary functions, though still depending from the Danish monarchy. With the invasion of Denmark by Germany in 1940, the Althing assumed the head of state and all facts concerning defence and foreign affairs. On June 17th 1944, the Althing, at a session held in the historical Thingvellir, established the creation of the independent Republic of Iceland.

Thingvellir

 The history of the Icelandic pairlament is highly connected with a place of enormous importance for the Icelandic identity “Thingvellir”. Originally property of a man condemned because of a murder, the land was declared public after this and thus chosen to be the See of the Althing, due of its accessibility and vast natural resources, taking in consideration the Icelandic standards of course.

 Thingvellir became a national park in 1928 and is perhaps one of the most populars destinations in Iceland, surprising both with its historical relevance and a very characteristic landscape with no match in other place, featuring rifts, waterflows, vast plains and waterfalls, all of them giving shape to a place worth of a Saga. Thingvellir is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and of course, the magnificent place where the first parliament of the World was born.

 

All pics on this post courtesy of Wikicommons.org