Chapter VI: Section III: Historical Notes.111

The author has no intention of troubling his readers with the normal “historical sketch,” which is usually an uninteresting abridgment--“compendium, dispendium,”--handed down from traveller to traveller. But it may be useful as well as interesting to dwell upon both extremes of the island annals; upon the beginning which is a disputed point, and upon the end which is still causing so much movement.

The Landnámabók (i. 1) briefly relates how, “according to some, Naddodd the Víking, in the days of Harold Fairfax, when sailing from Norway to the Færoes, was driven westward, and came upon the eastern coast of the island which he called Snæland;” how the Swede Garðar Svafarson, after the earliest circumnavigation, named it Garðarshólm, and established Húsavík; how Flóki Vilgerðarson, a mighty corsair (hèt Víkingr mikill) found ice investing the northern coast (A.D. 868) and gave the island its present grim and grisly title--“Greenland” being more kindly treated for advertising purposes, “a good name would induce people to settle there;” how Flóki’s companion Thórólf, describing it as a place where butter dropped from every plant, the northern equivalent of “flowing with milk and honey,” gained the nickname of Thórólfr Smjör (Butter Thorolf); and finally, how Ingólfr, banished for murder, accompanied by his foster-brother and friend, Leifr, or Hjör-leifr (Leif of the sword), Hróðmarsson, settling in A.D. 870-874, the latter was murdered by his Irish thralls--an agrarian outrage which has since happened to many a landlord in the Emerald Isle. This official occupation of Ultima Thule took place shortly after King Alfred had defeated the Danes (A.D. 871): thus 1874 is the Millenary of Iceland colonisation, as 1872 was the Jubilee of Harold Fairfax, and as 1876 will be the Centenary of Freedom in the U.S.

But the Landnámabók proposes to itself a subject, the emigration of the pagan Northmen, who _nim’d_ (Icel. “námu”) the island,[112] and a few sentences, short and vague, are deemed sufficient for the older occupants. Later Scandinavian authors generally have satisfied themselves with repeating its statements, and have clung to a tradition which evidently does not date from ancient times. The argument relied upon by Arngrímr Jónsson has been often quoted; yet it appears far from satisfactory. The author is well aware of the difficulties to be encountered when supplementing the imperfect relation, and the “weight of tradition and historical circumstances” which lies in the way; he can hardly flatter himself with having succeeded, but he hopes that he has shown a case worthy of being taken in hand by some scholar who has leisure and inclination for the task.

The first modern writer who presumed to differ from the Landnámabók was, it is believed, Pontanus the Dane (loc. cit., Amstelodami, A.D. 1631, folio, p. 754). He gives the following extracts from the Bull of Pope Gregory IV., which he dates from A.D. 835, or thirty-nine years before the official date of discovery

“Ipsum filium nostrum, jam dictum Ansgarium et successores ejus
legatos in omnibus circumquaque gentibus Danorum, Sueonum,
Norvagorum, Farriæ, _Groenlandensium_, Helsingelandorum,
_Islandorum_, Scritifindorum, Slavorum; necnon omnium
Septentrionalium et orientalium nationum quocunque modo nominentur,
delegamus et posito capite et pectori, super corpus et confessionem
Sancti Petri Apostoli sibi suisque successoribus vicum nostram
perpetuo retinendam, publicamque evangelizandi tribuimus
auctoritatem,” etc., etc.

Presently Pontanus quotes the following words from the Præcept of King Louis the Mild (regn. A.D. 814-840), son of Charlemagne, a document bearing date the year before the papal Bull (_i.e._, A.D. 834):

“Idcirco Sanctæ Dei Ecclesiæ filiis præsentibus scilicet et
futuris, certum esse volumus, qualiter divinâ ordinante gratiâ,
nostris in diebus, Aquilonalibus in partibus, scilicet, in gentibus
Danorum, Sueonum, Norvagorum, Farriæ, _Groenlandorum_,
Helsinglandorum, Scritofinnorum, et omnium Septentrionalium et
orientalium nationum magnum cælestis gratia predicationis sive
acquistionis pateficit ostium, ità ut multitudo hinc inde ad fidem
Christi conversa, mysteria cælestia ecclesiasticaque subsidia
desiderabiliter expetaret, unde Domino Deo nostro laudes immensas
persolventes extollimus, qui nostris temporibus et studiis Sanctam
Ecclesiam, sponsam videlicet suam, in locis ignotis sinit dilatari
ac patefieri,” etc.

Here it is possible that “Greenland,” being mentioned with the islands and terra firma of Europe, may be the name of some district in the Scandinavian peninsula, and it has been suggested that “Iceland” may occur under similar conditions. In the Zeni Voyages, the Shetlands are called Estlanda, Eslanda, and Islande. But while a southern Shetland kept its place, the Shetlands were moved up to the north-east coast of Iceland, like the Orkneys to the south-east. He, therefore, who discovered the northern Shetlands, would also discover Iceland.

Evidently the first point is to consult an official copy of the Gregorian Bull referred to by Pontanus. The Very Rev. Father O’Callaghan, Principal of the English College, Rome, obliged the author with the following full extract:

_From the First Volume of the_ BULLARIUM ROMANUM. _Printed at
Turin_, 1857.

Pages 279, 280.

“Confirmatio Sanctæ Sedis Hamburgensis in ultima Saxoniæ parti
trans Albiam; cui Ecclesiæ Anscharius præficitur Archiepiscopus,
datoque ei pallio, sibi subjectis gentibus apostolicæ sedis legatus
constituitur.[113]

SUMMARIUM.

“Carolus Magnus Saxones ad Christi fidem perduxit--Hamburgensem
sedem episcopalem constituit.--Anscharius[114] et successores
Hamburgenses archiepiscopi legati sedis apostolicæ apud Danos,
Sveones, Slavos, etc., delegantur.--Sedes Hamburg. vulgo d.
archiepiscopalis efficitur.--Jus eligendi archiepiscopos penes
Palatinos principes.--Anathema contra decreti hujus
temeratores.--Pallium Anschario et successoribus.--Ad eundem
Anscharium saluberrimæ adhortationes.

[Sidenote: Carolus Magnus Saxones ad Christi fidem perduxit;]

[Sidenote: Hamburgensem sedem episcopalem constituit.]

[Sidenote: Anscharius et successores Hamburgenses archiep. legati
Sedis Apostolicæ apud Danos, Sveones, Slavos, etc., delegantur.]

[Sidenote: Sedes Hamburg. vulgo d. archiepiscopalis efficitur.]

[Sidenote: Jus eligendi archiepiscopos penes Palatinos principes.]

[Sidenote: Anathema contra decreti huius temeratores.]

[Sidenote: Pallium Anschario et successoribus.]

“Gregorius episcopus servus servorum Dei Omnium fidelium
dinoscentiæ certum esse volumus, qualiter beatæ memoriæ
præcellentissimus rex Karolus, tempore prædecessorum nostrorum,
divino afflatus spiritu, gentem Saxonum sacro cultui subdidit,
iugumque Christi, quod suave, ac leve est, adusque terminos Danorum
sive Slavorum, corda ferocia perdomans docuit, ultimamque regni
ipsius partem trans Albiam inter mortifera Paganorum pericula
constitutam, videlicet ne ad ritum relaberetur Gentilium, vel etiam
quia lucrandis adhuc gentibus aptissima videbatur, proprio
episcopali vigore fundare decreverat. Sed quia mors effectum
prohibuerat, succedente ejus præcellentissimo filio Hludewico
imperatore Augusto, pium studium sacri genitoris sui efficaciter
implevit. Quæ ratio nobis per venerabiles Ratoldum, sive Bernoldum
episcopos, necnon et Geroldum comitem, vel missum venerabilem
relata est confirmanda. Nos igitur omnem ibi Deo dignam statutam
providentiam cognoscentes, instructi etiam præsentia fratris
filiique nostri Anscharii primi Hordalbingorum archiepiscopi, per
manus Drogonis Metensis episcopi consecrati, sanctum studium
magnorum imperatorum, tam præsenti auctoritate, quam etiam pallii
datione, more prædecessorum nostrorum roborare decrevimus; quatenus
tanta auctoritate fundatus prædictus filius noster, eiusque
successores lucrandis plebibus insistentes, adversus tentamenta
diaboli validiores existant,[115] _ipsumque filium nostrum iam
dictum Anscharium, et successores eius legatos in omnibus
circumquoque gentibus Danorum, Sveonum, Northweorum, Farriæ,
Gronlandan, Halsigolandan, Islandan, Scridevindum, Slavorum, nec
non omnium septentrionalium, et orientalium nationum quocumque modo
nominatarum delegamus, una cum Elbone Remensi archiepiscopo;
statuente, ante corpus et confessionem Sancti Petri, publicam
evangelizandi tribuimus auctoritatem_, ipsamque sedem
Nordalbingorum, Hammaburg dictam, in onore Salvatoris, sanctæque
eius, et intemeratæ genitricis semper virginis Mariæ consecratam,
archiepiscopalem deinceps esse decernimus. Consecrationem vero
succedentium sacerdotum, donec consecrantium numerus ex gentibus
augeatur, sacræ Palatinæ providentiæ interim committimus. Strenui
vero prædicatoris persona, tantoque officio apta in successione
semper eligatur: omnia vero a venerabili principe ad hoc Deo dignum
officium deputata, nostra etiam auctoritate pia eius vota firmamus:
omnemque resistentem, vel contradicentem atque piis nostris studiis
his quolibet modo insidiantem, anathematis mucrone percutimus,
atque perpetua ultione reum diabolica sorte damnamus, ut culmen
apostolicum more prædecessorum nostrorum, causamque Dei pio affectu
zelantes ab adversis hinc inde partibus tutius muniamur. Et quia
te, carissime fili Anschari, divina clementia nova in sede primum
disposuit esse archiepiscopum, nos quoque pallio tibi ad missarum
solemnia celebranda tribuimus, quod tibi in diebus tuis, uti et
Ecclesiæ tuæ perpetuo statu manentibus privilegiis uti largimur.
Idcirco huius indumenti honor morum a te vivacitate servandus est:
si ergo pastores ovium sole, geluque pro gregis sui custodia, neque
ex eis aut errando pereat, aut ferinis lanianda morsibus rapiatur,
oculis semper vigilantibus circumspectant, quanto sudore, quantaque
cura debeamus esse pervigiles, nos qui pastores animarum dicimur
attendamus. Et ne susceptum officium in terrenis negotiis
aliquatenus implicare debeas ammonemus. Vita itaque tua filiis tuis
sit via; in ipsa si qua fortitudo illis inest, dirigant, in ea quod
imitentur aspiciant; in ipsa se semper considerando proficiant, ut
tuum post Deum videatur esse bonum, quod vixerint. Cor ergo tuum
neque prospera, quæ temporaliter blandiuntur, extollant, neque
adversa deiiciant; districtum mali cognoscent, pium benevoli
sentiant. Insontem apud te culpabilem malitia aliena non faciat,
reum gratia excuset; viduis, ac pupillis iniuste oppressis defensio
tua subveniat. Ecce, frater carissime, inter multa alia ista non
sacerdotii, ista sunt pallii, quæ si studiose servaveris, quod
foris accepisse ostenderis, intus habebis. Sancta Trinitas
fraternitatem tuam diu conservare dignetur incolumem, atque post
huius sæculi amaritudinem ad perpetuam perducat beatitudinem.
Amen.”[116]

Father O’Callaghan adds:

“I have carefully examined the fourth volume of the Bullandists,
and find that they agree with Mabillon in omitting mention of
Iceland and Greenland in their version of the Bull.[117] The
introductory commentary to the Life of St Anscharius (§ xii.),
there given under the date of February 3, will suggest an
explanation of the way in which the interpolation seems to have
occurred.”

The quotation of Mabillon (Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, Sæculi Quarti, Pars Prima, 123, 124, fol., Venetiis, 1738) is as follows:

BULLA GREGORII.

“Ipsumque filium nostrum, jam dictum Ansgarium Legatum in omnibus
circumquaque gentibus Sueonum sive Danorum [_omitting the
‘Norvagorum, Farriæ, Groenlandensium, Helsingelandorum, Islandorum,
Scritifindorum,’ of Pontanus_] nec non etiam Slavorum [_omitting
‘nec non omnium Septentrionalium et orientalium nationum, quocunque
modo nominentur, delegamus et posito capite et pectori,’ of
Pontanus_], vel in cæteris ubicunque illis partibus constitutis
divina pietas ostium aperuerit, una cum Eboni Rhemensi
archiepiscopo, statuentes ante corpus et confessionem Sancti Petri
publicam evangelizandi tribuimus auctoritatem.”

Furthermore, the Acta Sanctorum thus shortens the “Præceptum Ludovici Imperatoris”:

“Idcirco Sanctæ Dei Ecclesiæ filiis, presentibus scilicet et
futuris, certum esse volumus, qualiter divina ordinante gratia
nostris in diebus, Aquilonalibus in partibus, in gente videlicet
Danorum sive Sueonum [_omitting the ‘Norvagorum, Farriæ,
Groenlandorum, Helsinglandorum, Scritofinnorum, et omnium
Septentrionalium et orientalium nationum,’ of Pontanus_] magnum
cælestis gratia prædicationis sive acquisitionis patefecit ostium.”

It is curious to remark that the same tampering has been attributed to the Præcept as to the Bull, and it is not easy to divine the mode in which the double fraud was so successfully effected.

Mr Jón A. Hjaltalín, who owns to “grave doubts about the historical value of Danish chronicles recording dates of this period,” supplies the following excerpts from the “Vita Sancti Anskarii, a Rimberto” (Archbishop of Hamburg) “et alio discipulo Anskarii conscripta” (before A.D. 876), “edidit C. F. Dahlmann, Prof. Göttingen.” The editor’s preface contains these words of