 Religion In
Iceland
Although early Christians were present in
Iceland from the beginning of its settlement (in
the form of slaves from the British Isles),
Icelanders followed the Viking religion,
encompassing Scandinavian mythology and worship of
Odin and his pantheon. Christianity was adopted in
Iceland around the year 1000 with provisions for
practicing certain forms of paganism (which
eventually dwindled as Icelanders fully adopted
Christianity after the Reformation). To this day,
however, there are still a small
percentage of Icelanders who have folk beliefs
concerning elves, trolls and other mythical
creatures.
 The Icelandic conversion to Christianity came about in a
nonviolent, diplomatic way. The Norse-pagan Þorgeirr
Ljósvetningagoði came up with a series of compromises
stating that certain pagan traditions, including
infanticide, eating horsemeat, and private sacrifices would
still be allowed.
This compromise would satisfy the predominantly pagan
society and the growing Christian faction on the
Island, as well as the Christian Kings of Norway,
who ruled over Iceland at the time. The Althing also
claimed the right to make decisions regarding
canonization, which was unusual practice in the
Christian empire.
During the Reformation, Catholicism declined
until it was almost obliterated in Iceland, due to
the brutal tactics of the Danish throne. Pietism rose to
importance in the eighteenth century,
which put a damper on Icelandic
culture, as
followers of pietism discouraged any sort of
practice or education that wasn't religious in
nature.
Today, the main religious church in Iceland is
Lutheran, however there are also Catholics,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Jewish, Mormons, Muslims and
others.
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