The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1899-05-06
INSURANCE IN ICELAND.
, system Of an EARLY
Period.

London recognized the value of FIRE
insurance there existed a most in
teresting form of it. and that not in
any of the great commercial nations
of the middle ages, but In a remote
islands of the Atlantic-in Iceland.
This fact, remarkable as it is in itself,
will not seem so surprising to those
who are acquainted with the ancient
condition of that country. which has
for several hundred years played but
small part in European history. Its
first colonists, in the end of the ninth
and beginning of the tenth centuries.
were among the most enterprising of
Norway's sons; aud for the next three
centuries their new home rfvalled the
mother country in most respects, and
far excelled 1t in mental activity. The
old poetry of Norway died out about
the year 1000 A. D., and from that date
SO long as there~were skalds at the
court of the Norwegian kings. they
were Icelanders. At the same time
they were careful farmers, daring sea-
men and enterprising traders. They
traded regularly with all the neighbor
countries. and thought little of an
overland journey to Constantinoples
where many of them served In the
bodyguard of the Byzantine emperor.
At home, next to the necessary care
of their herds ard focks, they were
above all devoted to poetry, history
and law. To be skilled In the latter
was sure title to respect at time
when law books were still unknown,
and codes were carried in the head OF
the "Lawman," or declared by the
"Lawspeaker," at the meetings of the
althing. or yearly assembly. In the
thirteenth century these laws of use
and wont came to be written down,
not officially. it would seem, as hap
pened in other countries, but by per-
sons interested in legal studies, and
they are now preserved in collection
commonly known as Gragas, or gray
goose "a name of doubtful oriQin).
which is used as a general name for
the laws of Iceland prior to its union
with NORWAY in 1869.
n .s-fn TINS coliecricn OF laws rnat
the interesting item of compensation
for loss by fire occurs, section which
is quoted by the editor of an Icelandic
journal of last year, in the first of a
series of articles on the ancient civil.
ization of Iceland. The editor, Mr..
Valtyr Gudmundsson, is one of the
best authorities on this subject, and
uses the quotation as a text to point
out to his countrymen the superior
foresight Of their ancestors in this re-
.spect. The modern Icelapder has not
yet realized the value of insurance, as
shown by the fact that one of the fore
most yeomen in the country had his
farm burned down three times in sue
cession without its being insured. 1t
was otherwise in the old days, as DR..
Valtyr points out. In the time Of the
old republic, the golden age of Iceland,
every yeomafi farmer was by law COM
PEELED to be a member of mutual in
surance society. The method by
which compensation for loss Of fire
was made is thus explained in Ora
gas, and is a striking proof of the
thoroughly practical views Of the old
Icelanders:s
There are three houses in every
mans dwelling for which compensal
tion may be obtained in event of their
being burnedado I'm Tcelandic
dwellings each room was separate
building. and SO is called a "house.")
"Oke Is the women's sitting-room, an
other the common sitting-room, and
the third a pantry where the women
prepare the food. If man has both
and a hail.. then at the
spring assembly he shall choose
whether he will rather have the sit
ting-room or the hall insured. Ifthere
Is church or chapel on any mans
farm, then that Is the fourth house
liable for compensation. where 1t ex-
lists. II any of these houses aforemen-
toned is burned down. the owner shall
summon five of his nefghbors. and get
them to estimate the damage that has
been done. They shall estimate the
damage done to the horse itself, and
also that done to clothes and other
valuabies burned along with it; but
only such clothes and valuables as the
owner requires for daily use shall be
reckoned for compensation. If a
church is burned, there shall be reck-
oned along with It for compensa ton
all the hangings, the choir, and the
best bell that has been destroyed, If
there were more than one. and all the
furniture required for daily use; the
same thing shall be done in the case Of
thapels."
Wien the damage had been valued
by the neighbors, as above provided,
of the loss had to be borne by
the Yeomen himself and the other ha Il