CONSTITUTION AND LAW 
[. HISTORICAL SUMMARY 
The colonization of Iceland was an entirely private undertaking on 
the part of the colonists themselves, who came thither in straggling 
bands from different quarters, and had no community of government. 
The first 60 years of the history of the country form a separate peri- 
od, while as yet there was no political organization for the whole is- 
land. It is not till 930 that the Icelandic commonwealth comes into 
being, when Althingi (the general sassembly for the whole country) 
s established and a code of laws (Ulfliét's Code) adopted for the 
whole country. 
The Icelandic commonwealth was a free and sovereign state, the 
most characteristic features in ils constitution being the assemblies 
{(, Things“) and the aristocracy. The godar (chiefs or priests), wielding 
the general government of the country, were at first probably 36. 
But later on, or about 965, their number was increased to 39, with 
a further addition of 12 godords (priesthoods or chieftaincies) in 1005, 
The old godar or chiefs were invested with much greater influence 
on the government than the new ones. The godords were not strictly 
geographical; they were a kind of personal union between the godar 
or chiefs on the one hand and their thingmen on the other, based 
on mutual confidence, and entered into for purposes of defence and 
dissolvable by either party at will. The office of the godi was indeed 
of a public character, but in some respects it was treated as the godi’s 
private property. It could not only be transmitted as an inheritance, 
but it might also be sold or given away without the thingmen having 
a voice in the disposal of it. A godord could be vested in several 
persons jointly, and similarly a single godi might hold a number of 
godords. This gradually led to the accumulation of the godords in the