Farthings of Iceland - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Historically, Iceland was divided into four landsfjórðungar (singular landsfjórðungur) or farthings, that were named after the Cardinal direction

Cardinal direction

The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...

s. These were administrative divisions established in 965 for the purpose of organising regional assemblies (fjórðungsþing - farthing assemblies) and for regional courts (fjórðungsdómar - farthing courts). Each farthing contained three local assemblies (held in spring and autumn) except the Norðlendingafjórðungur which had four. Each farthing also contained nine goðorð presided over by a chieftain, goði as three goðar formed one assembly, again, except the north farthing which had twelve. Farthing courts would decide on judgement if both plaintiff and defendant belonged to the same assembly, otherwise the case was brought up to the general assembly Alþingi. Otherwise little is known about these farthing assemblies and they seem to have been much more irregular than the spring and autumn assemblies. Also, in spite of the apparent regularity of 3 goði per assembly and 3-4 assemblies per farthing, the system of rule by chieftains and assemblies probably followed a much more varied pattern.

The two diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

s of Iceland were divided along the farthing division in 1106 such that the diocese of Skálholt

Skálholt

Skálholt is an historical site situated in the south of Iceland at the river Hvítá.-History:Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. From 1056 until 1785, it was one of Iceland's two episcopal sees, along with Hólar, making it a cultural and political...

extended over three farthings (west, south and east) and the diocese of Hólar

Hólar

Hólar is a small community located in the Skagafjörður district and situated in northern Iceland.-Location:Hólar is located in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital at Reykjavík. Hólar has a population of around 100...

extended over the north farthing.

The lawmen

After Iceland entered into personal union

Personal union

A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...

with Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

in 1264 a change of law with the new lawbook of king Magnus

Magnus VI of Norway

Magnus VI Lagabøte or Magnus Håkonsson , was king of Norway from 1263 until 1280.-Early life:...

of Norway came into effect in 1271. According to this book, Járnsíða
Járnsíða
Járnsíða was a law-code which Magnus VI of Norway had composed for Iceland, which came formally under Norwegian control during 1262-64. Járnsíða was introduced over 1271-74, superseding the previous law-code Grágás. Amongst other things, Járnsíða formally put all legislative powers in the hands of...

(Ironside), a lawman was set over each farthing. Usually there were just two lawmen, one for the north and west farthings and one for the south and east farthings, but sometimes there were as many as four. At the same time the old assemblies muted into counties (sýslur) and the goði-chieftains were replaced by county sheriffs (sýslumaður
Sýslumaður
Sýslumaður is an office or title created in Iceland when it submitted to the King of Norway in 1262-1264. This sort of office had already been established in Norway, called sysselmann in contemporary Norwegian...

) an office awarded by the king. The lawmen gradually became very powerful and the institution of a supreme court (yfirdómur) in 1593 was an attempt to curb their power instigated by their main competitors, the two bishops.

Medical districts

In 1683 Iceland was made an amt within the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. In 1770 the country was divided into two amts, the South- and West Amt and the North- and East Amt and the borders of the farthings were changed according to the new division. In effect, the farthings were replaced by the amts.

In 1651 the king had granted permission for the construction of one hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

in each farthing. These were not hospitals in the modern sense but primarily intended as lazarets or leper colonies

Leper colony

A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...

that later became shelters for vagrants and beggars. In 1766 the office of farthing doctor (fjórðungslæknir) was created, one for each farthing. Soon, however, the medical districts were further divided, first with the introduction of another doctor for the west farthing in 1781 and then another for the eastern part of the south farthing in 1799. For most of the 19th century these were the six medical districts in Iceland. In 1944 the state agreed to increase their funding of three hospitals outside of Reykjavík which would be designated as farthing hospitals (fjórðungssjúkrahús). These were the hospitals of Ísafjörður

Ísafjörður

Ísafjörður is a town in the north west of Iceland, seat of Ísafjarðarbær municipality.The town draws its name from the fjord and the fjord was given its name simultaneously to the island...

, Akureyri

Akureyri

Akureyri is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's second largest urban area and fourth largest municipality ....

and Neskaupstaður

Neskaupstaður

Neskaupstaður is a town located on the fjord Norðfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland. It is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and, as of 2011, it has a population of 1,437.-History:...

Contemporary use of the term

Later administrative divisions of Iceland (notably the voting districts established with the Constitution of Iceland

Constitution of Iceland

The Constitution of Iceland is the supreme law of Iceland. It is composed of 80 articles in seven sections, and within it the leadership arrangement of the country is determined and the human rights of its citizens are preserved. The current constitution was first instituted on June 17, 1944; since...

in 1874) were based on the division of counties and municipalities and the farthings gradually lost any official significance although they are still used in common parlance to refer to parts of the country.

Currently there is only one form of local government in Iceland, the municipalities, the counties themselves having lost any official significance in the 1990s. Several times during the 20th century there have been regional organisations, societies, cooperation venues at the municipal level etc. based on the farthings. The farthings were also mentioned e.g. when one long wave-antenna was built for each farthing in the 1950s and in 1980 one Jóhannes Árnason suggested reinstating the farthing assemblies as means of distributing power from the state to the regions, but this was not seriously considered. A more common way of dividing Iceland nowadays is the eight regions

Regions of Iceland

|There are eight regions of Iceland, mainly used for statistical purposes. The district court jurisdictions also follow this division. The postal code system follows the regions as well with a few exceptions. Before 2003 the regions were also used as constituencies for elections to Alþingi...

(landshlutar).

Farthing divisions

Vestfirðingafjórðungur, or Breiðfirðingafjórðungur
Breiðafjörður
Breiðafjörður is a large shallow bay, about 50 km wide and 125 km long and located in the west of Iceland. It separates the region of the Westfjords from the rest of the country. Breiðafjörður is encircled by mountains, including glacier Snæfellsjökull the Snæfellsnes peninsula on the south side...

(Westfjord farthing), which included the Westfjords
Westfjords
The Westfjords or West Fjords is the name for the large peninsula in northwestern Iceland. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a 7 km wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður. The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by...

but reached down to the middle of Faxaflói
Faxaflói
Faxaflói , formerly known in English as Faxa Bay and Faxe Bay, is a bay in Southwest-Iceland between the peninsulas of Snæfellsnes and Reykjanes.The capital of the island, Reykjavík, is situated on its southern shore...

, so it also included most of today's west region. The southern border was originally at Hvítá
Hvítá
Hvítá is a river whose source is in the glacier lake Hvítárvatn at Langjökull glacier in the highlands of Iceland at . The river flows for 40 km before dropping down into a narrow gorge at the waterfall Gullfoss....

in Borgarfjörður
Borgarfjörður
Borgarfjörður is a fjord in the west of Iceland near the town of Borgarnes. The waters of Borgarfjörður appear to be calm, however the fjord is on the contrary a rather dangerous part of the sea because of its undercurrents and shallows....

but in the 13th century this was moved south to Botnsá in Hvalfjörður
Hvalfjörður
Hvalfjörður is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. The fjord is approximately 30 km long and 5 km wide....

.
Norðlendingafjórðungur, or Eyfirðingafjórðungur
Eyjafjörður
Eyjafjörður is the longest fjord in central northern Iceland. It is located in the second most populous region of Iceland.-Physical geography:...

(North farthing), which reached from Hrútafjörður
Hrútafjörður
Hrútafjörður is a fjord in the north-west of Iceland. It is around 36 km long and lies to the south of Húnaflói bay.The junction and farmstead of Brú is at its southern tip and serves as a local agricultural service station.-See also:...

in the west to Langanes
Langanes
Langanes is a peninsula in northeast Iceland. The name literally means "long peak". It is long from southwest to northeast, ending in a thin strip of land called Fontur. It is bounded by Þistilfjörður to the northwest and Bakkaflói to the southeast, while the terrain inland reaches elevations of...

in the east (the same as today's northeast and northwest regions);
Austfirðingafjórðungur (Eastfjord farthing) extended from Langanes to Jökulsá á Sólheimasandi in the south. In 1783 when Iceland was divided into amts, however, Skaftafellssýsla in the south was placed within the South Amt and the border of the farthings thus moved to Lónsheiði. The county of Skaftafellssýsla was later divided into two constituencies Austur-Skaftafellssýsla
Austur-Skaftafellssýsla
Austur-Skaftafellssýsla is a county of Iceland. It is located in the Austurland region of the country....

(east) and Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla
Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla
Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla is a county in southern Iceland. It includes Kötlutangi, the southernmost point in mainland Iceland....

(west) and in 1893 the eastern half was made part of the East Amt. Hence the border between the south and the east farthing moved again, this time to Skeiðará
Skeiðará
The river Skeiðará is a relatively short glacier river . It has its source on the glacier Skeiðarárjökull, one of the southern arms of the Vatnajökull in the south of Iceland....

and the east farthing thus became similar to today's east region.
Sunnlendingafjórðungur, or Rangæingafjórðungur
Ranga
Ranga may refer to:* B. S. Ranga , Indian photographer* S. V. Ranga Rao , South Indian actor, director and producer* Ranga Sohoni , Indian Test cricketer* Ranga Ediriwickrama, Australian rules footballer...

(South farthing) which was really only the south-west part of the country, including the southern peninsula, what is today the capital region and what was left of the south farthing, Árnessýsla
Árnessýsla
Árnessýsla is a large county of south-western Iceland. It has an area of 8287 km². In 2004, its population was 6,778....

and Rangárvallasýsla
Rangárvallasýsla
Rangárvallasýsla is a county of Iceland. It is located in the Suðurland region of the country....

until 1783 when Skaftafellssýsla was added. Now it includes the south-west and capital region along with Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla.

The lawmen

Medical districts

Contemporary use of the term

Farthing divisions

See also