In the preface to Medieval Iceland: Politics, Patronage and Power, Sverrir Jakobsson states his purpose explicitly: to write the first English-language survey of medieval Icelandic history, from Settlement to Reformation, in order to meet the growing interest in Iceland across the world. As Sverrir points out, there has been a need for such a work, something with more focus than Gunnar Karlsson’s widely read Iceland’s 1100 Years but which still gives the neglected Late Middle Ages its due space. Medieval Iceland fulfills this need well, with as much scope and detail as could feasibly be hoped for in its minimal 200 pages, and the level of research, insight, and erudition one would expect from one of the foremost historians of medieval Iceland currently working. The style of the work is straightforward and scientific in tone, and while it thus tends to be rather dry, it is nonetheless quite approachable and readable. The only major barrier to Sverrir’s impressive work being a touchstone introduction for students and enthusiasts alike is the jaw-dropping price point Routledge has imposed: the book is currently priced on the Routledge website at €180, at the higher end even for niche academic monographs. The price of the ebook has been reduced to around €40, which, while not cheap, is at least generally affordable, and we can hope that a paperback edition will eventually be printed.
Including the introduction and conclusion, Medieval Iceland is structured into fourteen short (10-12 page) chapters, divided into three sections: Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. After the introductory chapter, which addresses long-term economic, social, and environmental developments—as well as a brief survey of sources—the book proceeds chronologically from the settlement of Iceland in the 870s to the arrival of the Reformation to the island in the 1540s. Each chapter includes its own brief introduction, concluding summary, and bibliography. While for the most part this structure is very effective at supporting the reader through nearly 700 years of highly compressed history, there is some excess of summarizing and framing of the core narrative. In a book that is itself a summary, it seems excessive to devote a full 5% of the pages to a final summarizing chapter, when every preceding chapter includes its own quite effective summary.
The introductory chapter, “Long-Term Economic and Social Treads,” sets the rest of the book on firm footing and showcases many of the strengths of Sverrir’s work. It identifies key long-term aspects of Icelandic history, especially ecological changes and social factors like household structure, as well as introducing the key source material and delineating it according to which sources are relevant for each period: generally, archaeology in the Early Middle Ages, narrative sources for the High Middle Ages, and annals and documents for the Late Middle Ages. This sets the stage for the meticulous and fascinating weaving together of different aspects of Icelandic history throughout Medieval Iceland. While the work has a general focus on social and political history, it touches on economic, religious, cultural, and literary history in often insightful ways, which provide the reader with an impressively deep insight into medieval Iceland. At the same time, the challenges of covering such historical scope in such a short work are also apparent. The environmental history concentrated in the introduction minimizes the capacity of the reader to interpret it alongside other events, mostly notably in the final chapters, where fifteenth- and sixteenth-century historical events might have been interesting to consider more directly alongside the cooling climate. The omissions necessary in such an overview also stand out: for the present reader, the fact that Lárentíus saga is never mentioned in the book is especially unfortunate. Nonetheless, the attempt to present as much direct primary source criticism as possible directly to the reader is appreciated, and helps Medieval Iceland present its narrative with a strong scholarly rigor that is rare in such historical surveys.
Part 1, chapters 1-4, deals with the Early Middle Ages, understood as the period from the settlement of Iceland to the early twelfth century, when the institutional Church had established itself and textual culture had begun to develop. The settlement of Iceland is understood in terms of key archaeological data, especially tephra, and the wider colonization of the North Atlantic by Scandinavian hydrarchs. It is presented as an organized, deliberate effort, and the ecological and material features of the earliest human presence on the island are highlighted--including many interesting details, such as the likeliness that English breeds of horses were used, which highlight the interconnectedness of colonization across the North Atlantic. The origins of the Icelandic parliament and court system are considered, and their development traced in light of the island’s lack of executive power. Chapter 3 addresses Christianization, with a particular focus on comparing and critiquing the narrative sources, before addressing the formation of a new elite alongside an institutional Church. Chapter 4 considers all the narrative sources in the Early Middle Ages in terms of cultural memory, and considering how texts constructed the past--among other key points, the chapter rejects the idea that Landnámabók is particularly useful for studying the period of settlement.
Part 2, chapters 5-8, addresses the High Middle Ages. Proceeding from the argument that the creation of a tithe at the end of the eleventh century structured Icelandic society in a way that deeply effected both secular and ecclesiastical power, these chapters move from the early twelfth through the late thirteenth century and the early stages of Norwegian rule in Iceland. Twelfth-century secular politics are presented as largely static, until the balance of power is disrupted by several factors--not least the rising power of the archbishop of Niðaróss and the 1190 ban on secular leaders holding priestly ordination--and the first half of the thirteenth century brings increasing power consolidation and violence. Medieval Iceland does an impressive job of attempting to summarize the rise of the Sturlung family and the steady development of royal hegemony over Icelandic affairs, but the complexity of events and numerous key figures during this period makes this part of the book one of the most difficult to follow. The establishment of royal authority comes with the enforcement of consistent taxation, and eventually by a firmly accepted new lawbook, Jónsbók, in 1281.
Part 3, chapters 9-12, covers the Late Middle Ages, from the consolidation of Norwegian rule around the beginning of the fourteenth century to the final failed push to preserve Catholicism in Iceland in 1551. These chapters arguably represent the most valuable part of the book, as the last two and a half centuries of medieval Icelandic history are some of the least known and studied outside of Iceland and Icelandic-language scholarship. The narrative focuses on the establishment of new secular offices, the growth of Church power and wealth, and the changing degree of royal involvement in Icelandic affairs as the Kalmar Union rose into being and then collapsed. Significant focus is also given to the growth of the Icelandic fishing industry, trade and trade wars, and the concentration of wealth and power among a small elite. Most Icelandic manuscripts come from this period, and the fourteenth century is presented as the apogee of not just manuscript production, but many aspects of Iceland culture, before the plague decimated the island at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Chapter 12 is focused on the Catholic Church in the first half of the sixteenth century, which is presented as quite strong, wealthy, and influential up until King Christian III began to push for a rapid transition to the new Lutheran faith.
Sverrir Jakobsson shows an impressive breadth of up-to-date research--a respectable portion of the bibliographies dates from the late 2010s and 2020s—and seems to strive to present the scholarly consensus whenever there is one. A work of such scope is, nonetheless, prone to generalizations that may bother some readers, especially specialists in different aspects of Icelandic history. Some concrete errors are also inevitable, though the only clear factual error noticed by this reviewer is on page 135, where it is said that the annals record Bishop Ormr excommunicating Benedikt Kolbeinsson and four of his pages. The Gottskálksannáll in fact states that it was Benedikt’s son Kolbeinn who was excommunicated. However, this fumble of names does not affect that overall conclusion regarding Bishop Ormr’s disputes with the elite of his diocese, though the fact that he excommunicated not the sýslumaðr but the sýslumaðr’s son is interesting. The decision to organize Icelandic names in the index by patronym rather than name (i.e., Sturluson, Snorri rather than Snorri Sturluson) will likely represent a more serious frustration to many readers, confusing those who are used to remembering Icelanders primarily by first name, and potentially severely limit how useful the index is for those of us with a very poor memory for the patronyms of historical Icelanders.
Despite some issues, Medieval Iceland is an impressive work and an invaluable resource for scholars and general readers alike. While its costs may prevent it from fulling the kind of far-reaching public history role that Gunnar Karlsson’s Iceland’s 1100 Years has had for the last two decades, it is an excellent reference tool for those looking to fill in gaps in their knowledge of Icelandic and medieval history, and Sverrir Jakobsson’s experience and skill ties together 700 years of complex political machinations and religious upheavals with compelling erudition and insight.