Thingvellir
Þingvellir, IcelandCentral and Northern EuropeAlso: Þingvellir
The plain in south-west Iceland where the Althing, the general assembly of the Icelanders, met each summer. Here the lawspeaker proclaimed from the Law-Rock that all Icelanders should be Christian.
Ari’s account of the conversion is set at the Althing: the two parties arrive armed at the assembly field, the speeches are made at the Law-Rock, and the people go back to their booths while the lawspeaker Thorgeir Thorkelsson considers his ruling (Ari, Íslendingabók 7). See Iceland Adopts Christianity by Law.
What happened here
- AD 999/1000, estimated dateIceland Adopts Christianity by Law
At the Althing the pagan lawspeaker Thorgeir, asked to settle the dispute between Christians and heathens, rules that all Icelanders shall be baptized and live under one law, with a few old customs allowed for a time.