The Norsemen who settled in Iceland from the end of the ninth century worshipped the Æsir (the Norse gods).
In 1056, the country was given a bishop of its own, suffragan to the Archbishop of Hamburg, with his see at Skálholt, while in 1106 a bishopric was established at Hólar.
These two dioceses were first under the Archbishop of Lund, later (1152) under that of Trondheim, and until the middle of the 16th century were in close communion with Rome.
Under the influence of the Church the old laws (Grágás) were written down in 1117, but civil strife led to recognition of Norwegian hegemony.
Upon the death of Haakon VI of Norway in 1380, his son Olaf, who since 1376 had ruled Denmark, ascended the Norwegian throne and thus effected a centuries-long union of Denmark and Iceland, which later facilitated the spread of Lutheranism during the Reformation.