Úlfljótr (
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
: ;
Modern Icelandic
Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...
: ) brought law to Iceland and is regarded by some as
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
's first ''
lawspeaker
A lawspeaker or lawman (Swedish language, Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish language, Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic language, Icelandic: , Faroese language, ...
''. In around 927-930 AD Úlfljótr was sent to
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
by a group of chieftains to study law and culture and bring back to Iceland sufficient understanding to help establish Iceland's legal framework and form of government. And while he was in Norway, where he stayed for around three years,
Grímur Geitskor, Úlfljótr's half-brother, made a survey of Iceland to find the best place for the establishment of the
Althing
The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...
. Úlfljótr is commemorated with the first law enacted at the Alþing, Úlfljót's Law, with the lake
Úlfljótsvatn and by the ''
Úlfljótur Law Review''.
Natural Iceland: Ulfljotsvatn
(Accessed Feb 2011)
References
Other sources
* Benediktsson, Jakob (1974) “Landnám og upphaf allsherjarríkis,” Saga Íslands 1, Reykjavík
* Wikisource:Íslendingabók: Section 3. On the establishment of the Alþingi (Accessed Feb 2011)
* Sigurður Líndal: “Sendiför Úlfljóts”, i Skírnir 143, 1969, s. 5–26
* Sveinbjörn Rafnsson: Studier i Landnámsbók. Kritiska bidrag till den isländska fristatens historia, Lund 1974
* H. Magerøy: biografi i NBL1, bd. 17, 1975
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulfljotr
10th-century Icelandic people
Lawspeakers