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The House of Israel

Iceland -- An Outpost of Modern missionaries came to a largely heathen Iceland in 981,
Israel but the first Bible in the Icelandic language did not ap-
pear until five centuries later and was a product of the
revival which followed the Reformation.
Iceland, a large volcanic island lying in the remoteness
of the North Atlantic and supporting a population of The Icelandic Bible occupies a unique position be-
something less than a quarter of a million, is a vital, an cause, to the Icelander, it is both the inspired word of
indispensable, part of that great world-wide brother- God and the means by which he has retained his unique
hood of nations, which comprise the modern continua- language through centuries of foreign government. This
tion of ancient Israel -- a fact which emerged during language, the Norraena or Northern Tongue, has such
the second world war. It will be recalled that when the close linguistic affinities with the ancient language of
Battle of the Atlantic assumed serious proportions Ice- England, that it could almost be described as a living
land was defended by British and later, jointly, by form of Anglo-Saxon. Just as the King James Bible and
American troops. It thus emerged, not merely as a step- our Book of Common Prayer have preserved for us the
ping stone between the two great branches of English- English language at its most beautiful and best, so,
speaking people, but as a common meeting place, a thanks to the Icelandic Bible, the lovely language of
joint bastion of defence. Since that time, Iceland has Iceland differs very little from the northern tongue in-
become a member of N.A.T.O. and, as one of its cur- troduced just a thousand years ago.
rent postage stamps implies, is now the ears and eyes
of the free world in the North Atlantic.
The Arms of Iceland
Secular history describes the original settlers of Ice-
land as Irish Culdees. A man -- the heraldic sign of We have so much in common with the people of Ice-
Reuben -- occupies a prominent place in the Arms of land that those of us who were aware of our common
Iceland: we may therefore be reasonably certain that origin were disturbed and pained by the fishing dispute
these early settlers from Iceland were of Reubenite de- which divided the two nations from September 1972
scent. They were certainly Christians. In the eighth until British trawlers withdrew from Icelandic waters in
century the island was invaded and settled by another December 1976. If the two people had known that they
people of Israelite origin, possibly Danites, from the had the same origin and, under Almighty God, the same
coasts and fiords of Norway and these were joined by destiny, it is safe to assume that they would have found,
Danites from the Western Isles. The Icelanders are in brotherly love, a solution which could have been in
clearly of Celto-Saxon descent and there is now little accordance with their common Christian heritage.
doubt that the country was among the first outposts to
be discovered and settled by the vanguard of the Israel We pray that both peoples will soon wake up.
dispersion. As a matter of ethnic interest, there was,
during the first quarter of this century, an appreciable -- Reginald H.W. Cox
migration of people from Iceland to North America,
particularly to the prairie Provinces of Canada.
The Anglo-Dutch Link
Although its remoteness has tended to keep Iceland in
obscurity, the island was certainly under ordered gov- Britain is so often seen to be in close association with
ernment at a time when Europe was the unsettled scene her kinsfolk in the United States, Canada, Australia and
of conflicting influences. Indeed, the Icelandic Parlia- New Zealand that her close personal links with the Is-
ment, or Althing, is believed to be the oldest institu- rael nations of the North Sea fringe are often over-
tion of its kind in the world. The national church, which looked if not ignored. This article draws attention to
is Protestant (Lutheran), has just celebrated its one- the Netherlands because, contained in this small coun-
thousandth anniversary by a series of festivals and by try, we have one of the largest groups of Israelite
the publication of a revised Icelandic Bible. The first "stragglers" still outside the Commonwealth --

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