Icelandic Saga.

Harvard Hall was crowded even to standing room last Wednesday evening when Mr. Charles S. Smith gave the first lecture in his course on Icelandic Saga. Mr. Smith treated of Iceland from Ingolf's Settlement to its subjection to Norway.

The first settlers of Iceland were of Celtic stock, as has been proved by finding, before the eighth century, many Irish books and other possessions. Until the ninth century, Norway consisted of many small States, subject to the will of a bold peasantry. But in the middle of the following century the governing power fell into fewer hands, and the Vikings began their explorations. When Harold came into power be desired sole dominion and wished to rule Norway alone. He gave the Chieftain's choice of exile or vassalage. During his time Iceland was discovered and many emigrations were made there. It received various names from the explorers, but one chieftain finally called it Iceland because of the great prevalence of ice.

In 874 the first settlement was made by Ingolf, who carried with him the pillars of his sect and threw them into the water, declaring that there he should settle his colony. For the next sixty years many colonies were sent out. Certain numbers of the colonists came from Norway, but a good part were from Ireland and Scotland. The first settlers had no boundaries to their lands, but later a man could have as much land as he could carry a fire about in a day, and a woman as much as she could lead a calf about. With a stronger tide of settlement came stronger lights of settlement and land was purchased by goods or by the sword. In 927 a Norseman drew up a land law or constitution for Iceland, taking as a model certain laws of Norway. This established an assembly which met once a year and discussed questions of all kinds. The session lasted a fortnight. If the members could not attend they paid a tax which went to pay the expenses of those who could attend. There were three judicial courts which met three times a year. For many years the powers of the State were in the hands of the chieftains who were also the chief priests.

The religion of Iceland was of all kinds, though most of the people worshiped at the old Germanic shrine. Spirits, evil and good, were supposed to walk the earth. Slowly, as Scandinavia yielded to the influence of Christianity, Iceland followed. While Denmark and Sweden owed their conversion to German missionaries, Norway and Iceland owed it to their own people. Olaf sent the first missionaries to Iceland, and Christianity began its real work there in the year 1000. The erection of churches was left to individuals and not to the State. The priests stood outside of the political life and formed an unattached community, and their influence was unfortunate on the relations between the aristocracy and the commons. From 1151 the spirit of Rome began to he felt and Catholicism began to spread in Iceland. In 1262 Iceland, hitherto ruled by her own chieftains, was declared subject to the Norse Kings and in 1397 came into the possession of Denmark.