What's That Thing? The Althing! Quiz

Answer: Vikings

Ironically, it was those vicious and uncivilised Vikings that were the people who founded the world's oldest parliament. The Vikings inhabited the northern countries that are now known as Scandinavia; Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Famed for their voyages of exploration, the Vikings are believed to have stumbled across Iceland by accident in around 850 whilst on one of their many voyages westwards.

It did not take long for news of this discovery to reach those living on the Scandinavian peninsula and, with the promise of new lands to occupy, as many as ten thousand, but possibly many more than this figure, emigrated the six hundred miles or so across the north Atlantic between 870 and 930 to settle there.

Answer: 930

The 'Alțingi' in its native Icelandic (pronounced 'Althing' in English), was founded to serve as a general assembly in which the settlers, the vast majority of which lived in small isolated communities, had a place in which they could come together, discuss issues and make decisions that would be of benefit to all. One of the unique aspects of the Alțingi at this point in history was that, unlike many other governments of the time, it was not instituted for the benefit of the wealthy chieftains, warlords or kings, but instead looked after the interests of the Icelandic freeman farmers.

Answer: Lava plain

The Alțingi was held on a lava plain located to the north-east of the capital,Reykjavik, and known as the 'Țingvellir'. The site is still used today to celebrate events of national importance, such as in 1874 when the millennium anniversary of the first settling of Iceland took place; in 1944 when the Republic of Iceland was founded; and in 2000 when the millennium of the adoption of Christianity in Iceland was celebrated. All these events were commemorated by a meeting of many thousands of Icelanders at Țingvellir.

In 1928 Țingvellir became a national park and in 2004 it was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Answer: The Speaker of the House

The 'Lögsögumadur' or the' Law Speaker' held the highest official position within Alțingi and it was a position of great power at the time. The Law Speaker was elected to the post for a period of three years and he was expected, at every sitting of Alțingi, to be able to recite from memory at least one third of the laws of Iceland as they stood at the time.

He did this from upon a large rock known as the Lögberg, which was also from where Alțingi was convened, verdicts on legal matters were made, speeches were addressed to the population and where Alțingi was finally dissolved after its business had been concluded.

Answer: Annually for approximately three or four days

From 1271 and until the 17th century, Alțingi would sit for a period of three or four days but by the middle of the 17th century it was convened for periods that may have lasted for up to three weeks! Alțingi became as much a social event as it was a political and legal one.

A visitor to the site of Alțingi at Țingvellir today can still see the remains of small booths, constructed from stone and turf, which had been used by those attending Alțingi as accommodation and from which tradesmen would ply their wares.

The last Alțingi was convened at Țingvellir in 1798.

Answer: False

In 1122 , Ari the Learned, responsible for the 'Book of the Icelanders', wrote that 'Ulfljot' had been sent to Norway, having been given the task of adapting Norwegian law to suit the requirements of the Icelanders. However, due to the lack of any real similarities between the Norwegian and Icelandic codes of law, many scholars today discount Ari's version of events and many are certain that the Norwegian parliament came into existence after the foundation of the Alțingi.

Answer: Norway and Denmark

During the 13th century a period of civil war resulted in the Icelanders declaring allegiance to the King of Norway with the Alțingi becoming subservient to the Norwegian parliament, the 'Gulațingi'. In 1397 with the formation of the Kalmar Union, Norway, Sweden and Iceland then fell under the control of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Alțingi continued to sit at Țingvellir until 1798 and then two years later, on the 6th of June 1800, Alțingi was abolished. However, in 1843, the King of Denmark consented to the re-establishment of a parliament for Iceland and after elections held the following year, the Alțingi convened once more in the 1st of July 1845.

In 1918 Iceland became a sovereign state itself but maintained a union with the Danes. Eventually, in 1944 the Icelandic people voted to sever their ties with Denmark and on the 17th of June Iceland finally became an independent republic, with Sveinn Bjorrnsson becoming the first holder of the office of President.

Answer: False

Iceland is divided into just six constituencies; Northwest, Northeast, South, Southwest, Reykjavik North and Reykjavik South, with each constituency having six seats available in the Alțingi. Seats are allocated under a complex system known as the 'd'Hondt mechanism' which is a system of 'proportional representation'.

A total of a further nine seats, known as 'equalisation seats', are made available within the Alțingi and these are set aside to be allocated to parties that gain at least 5% of the valid votes that are cast.

These seats exist to ensure that the Alțingi represents, as closely as possible, the nationwide election result.

Answer: Fish and fishing grounds

The economic conflict that became known as the 'Cod Wars' began in the 1950s and continued, sporadically, into the 1970s. The Icelandic economy was almost entirely dependent on fishing and in 1972 the Icelandic government unilaterally increased their territorial fishing grounds to 200 miles and placed a ban on all foreign fishing vessels from operating within this limit. British fisherman, who had been fishing for cod in these waters for many decades, broke this ban which led to confrontation between the Icelandic fishermen and their protective coastguard vessels and the British fishing fleet.

The Icelandic coastguard vessels, which became known as 'gunboats' here in the UK, not only provided the Icelandic fishermen with an escort but took an active role in cutting the net lines of any British trawlers caught within the limit.

In December 1976 the dispute was resolved after Iceland threatened to close an important NATO base in Iceland. The British government had deployed Royal Navy vessels to the area in an attempt to intimidate the Icelanders but Britain had come under considerable pressure to concede to the Icelandic demands for the imposed limit and today no British fishing vessels operate within it.

Answer: 63

It is a requirement in Iceland that to stand for election to Alțingi, a candidate must possess an unblemished reputation; each candidate is required to submit to the authorities a number of electors signatures to support their intention to stand as a candidate. Until 2012, Alțingi convened on the 1st of October each year but it now opens on the second Tuesday in September. The parliamentary year consists of three terms and all parliamentary business is reported in the parliamentary gazette, the 'Alțingistidindi'. Unlike many parliaments around the world, there is no 'lobbying' of members by either business or by their constituents as members are expected to be guided in their decisions by their consciences. A unique institution indeed! Members have rights and with these come responsibilities; they are expected to attend all sittings unless it is absolutely unavoidable that they cannot. They are also expected to take part in every parliamentary vote, without exception. In Iceland, women first received the right to vote in 1917 and in 1980; Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected Iceland's president, the first woman ever to be elected to the position.

The Alțingi also run a school parliament, the Skolațingi, in which children from the ages of 14-16 are encouraged to take part in lessons that demonstrate the workings of Alțingi, and which gives them an insight into how the political system in Iceland operates, through taking part in debates, forming opinions of their own and learning the (invaluable) art of compromise!