Excerpt from The Place of Iceland in the History of European Institutions: Being the Lothian Prize Essay, 1877 To any one writing on Iceland, the elaborate works of the learned Maurer afford at once a help and a difficulty, - a help, in so far as they shed the fullest light upon the subjects of which they treat; a difficulty, in that their painstaking completeness has brought together well-nigh everything that can be said. I have not, therefore, in the following pages thought it necessary to do more than add references to his writings, where it seemed necessary to do so. Mr. Carlyle has observed ("Early Kings of Norway," p. 2), that "next to nothing has been shewn in English histories (Rapine's excepted) of the many and strong threads of connexion between English affairs and Norse. After looking over the ponderous tomes of Rapin's History, I have failed to find that exhaustive treatment of the subject which Mr. Carlyle's words would lead one to expect. I have thought it best to add in notes a good deal that served to illustrate the text, in addition to mere references to original authorities (which I have in all cases where possible consulted); and on a few important questions, which, though closely connected with the main subject, I could not conveniently introduce into the text, I have ventured to add longer notes in the form of Appendices. I am greatly indebted to Mr. F.York Powell, of Ch. Ch., for his kindness in helping me to revise and prepare this essay for publication; as also to my colleague at Manchester, Mr. Joseph Hall, for his careful revision of the proof-sheets. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.