A hreppur () is a type of rural

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. These administrative units primarily consist of small rural villages, often with few or no towns, and are overseen by a . The ''hreppur'' is one of Iceland’s oldest administrative units, likely dating back to before 1000 AD, when each ''hreppur'' was required to have at least twenty

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

ers. Smaller units could be established with permission from the

Lögrétta The Court of Legislature ( , "law-right") was a legislature and high court established in Iceland in the year 930 during the period of the Icelandic Commonwealth. 930 – c. 965 It was an institution of Althing, the nation's legislative and ju ...

. The term (from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

''hreppr'') is referenced in Icelandic legal texts such as the

Gray Goose Laws The Gray Goose Laws ( {{IPA, is, ˈkrauːˌkauːs}) are a collection of laws from the Icelandic Commonwealth period. The term ''Grágás'' was originally used in a medieval source to refer to a collection of Norwegian laws and was probably mi ...

(Grágás) and

Law of Iceland Law of Iceland during the Commonwealth (930–1262) was decided by the ''Alþingi'' (Althing). It has changed over the years, but the legislative body is still called the Althing. History Following the settlement of Iceland around the 870s, Ic ...

(Jónsbók). Unlike the chieftain-

þing A thing, also known as a folkmoot, assembly, tribal council, and by other names, was a governing assembly in early Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by a lawspeaker. Things took place regularly, usu ...

structure, the ''hreppur'' operated independently, collecting and distributing tithes and mandatory contributions designated for the poor. These contributions were allocated to various households based on their wealth and for specified periods. The ''hreppur'' also managed an early form of insurance, where a member who lost more than a quarter of their livestock to disease could recover half of the loss.Miller, William, Bloodtaking and Peacemaking, Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland, University of Chicago Press, 1996, p.19 Today, the use of the term ''hreppur'' is declining, as urban communities merge into new municipalities.

References

Subdivisions of Iceland Types of administrative division {{Iceland-poli-stub