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hands of a few leading godar, and as in this manner the geographical
character of the godords became more and more fixed, the relation of
godar and thingmen was marked by an ever increasing subordination
of the latter.
The extent of power of the assemblies or Things varied considerably.
There were 13 district assemblies (i. e. spring and autumn assemblies),
each comprising 3 godords; 4 quarter-Things, one for each quarter
of the country, but they soon disappeared; and lastly there was
Althingi (the general assembly) for the whole island. Althingi was not
a mere tribunal exercising legal jurisdiction for the whole island; it
was a legislature for the whole country as well. Althingi thus possessed
 both legislative and judicial powers, but the executive authority
 was weak and inefficient, for the godar or priests retained this
power in their own hands. The permanency of the Icelandic republican
state system was thus necessarily conditional upon the balance of power
(equality of the godords) being maintained among the godar, and on
none of them becoming so powerful as to be able to lord it over the
others. But this balance of power was disturbed when the godords
began to accumulate in few hands, the consequence being bloody
feuds among a few powerful families who aimed at nothing but selfaggrandizement.
 These quarrels gave the Norwegian king, Héakon
Hakonarson (f 1263), an opportunity of interfering in Icelandic affairs,
and at last, in 1262, he persuaded the Icelandic nation to take the
path of allegiance, and the commonwealth had come to an end.
On the Treaty which the Icelanders made with king at Althingi
in 1262 were based the relations of Iceland with Norway and with
Denmark later on, and the new constitution of Iceland. By this Treaty
of Union the Icelanders swore allegiance to the king and his descendants
 and promised them permanent annual taxes, the king on his side
promising them various privileges. — As to the real substance of the
union agreement opinions have been greatly divided: The Icelanders
have always maintained that it established a personal union between
Iceland and Norway, nothing more. The Danes, on the other hand,
in the controversy which arose later on regarding the relation between
 Iceland and Denmark, contended that the agreement had brought
about a real union between the two countries, and they even went so
far as to say that Iceland had become an integral part of the Norwegian
 kingdom. The treaty of union was renewed several times, but
no such changes were ever introduced as to affect materially the relation
 between Iceland and Norway. Nor was there any change of this