planatory of the various offices* as well civil
as ecclesiastical. An introduction, comprising
these, and hints on a few other most
remarkable objects in the island, appeared
to me to be necessary, not only for the proper
understanding of much of my narrative, but
to prevent these volumes from being to such
a degree incomplete as would have rendered
them almost useless.
INTRODUCTION.
I c e la n d , one of the most considerable of
the European isles, is situated in the northern
part of the Atlantic Ocean ; and, according
to the most authentic observations that
have been made, between the sixty-third
and sixty-seventh degrees of north latitude,
and the sixteenth and twenty-fifth degrees of
longitude, west of Greenwich*.
* The able French navigator, M. de Verdun, de
la Crenne, whilst speaking of the maps of Iceland in
his Voyage en diverses Parties de l'Europe de l'Afrique
et de VAmérique, takes the opportunity of remarking
“ qu’ elles diffèrent tant entr’ elles, et d’ailleurs elles
s’accordent si peu avec le résultat de nos observations,
par rapport à la partie, que nous avons parcourue,
qu’ il ne nous est pas possible de présumer qu elles
représentent plus fidèlement les parties que nous
n’avons pu reconnôitre.” — Arngrim Jonas, likewise,