The Icelandic Commonwealth, Icelandic Free State, or Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Þjóðveldið) was the state existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. With the possible exception of Papar, Iceland was an uninhabited island until around 870, when immigrants fleeing from the unification of Norway under King Harald Fairhair began the Norse settlement in Iceland.
Read more about Icelandic Commonwealth: Goðorð System, Court System, Warfare, Decline and Fall
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“Honorable Senators: My sincerest thanks I offer you. Conserve the firm foundations of our institutions. Do your work with the spirit of a soldier in the public service. Be loyal to the Commonwealth and to yourselves and be brief; above all be brief.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)