Religion in Iceland

[2] Freedom of religion has been granted to Icelandic citizens since 1874; the Church of Iceland is supported by the government, but all religions officially recognised in the state's civil registry receive support from a church tax (sóknargjald) owed by their respective populations of adherents over the age of sixteen, who are counted by the state's statistical office on a yearly basis; citizens who declare that they are not affiliated with any religion owe an equivalent tax to the University of Iceland.

[1][4] A growing segment of the population—18.73% as of 2023—adheres to religions, philosophies, or life stances not recognized in the civil registry, or did not declare any religious affiliation.

[1][4] When Iceland was first settled by Norwegians (but also by some Swedes and people from the Norse settlements in Britain[5]) in the mid-9th century, approximately in 870,[6] it was inhabited by a small number of Irish Christian anchorites known as papar (singular papi).

[7] The migration of Norwegians was partly in response to the politics of Harald Fairhair, who was unifying Norway under a centralised monarchy.

[6] The first Icelanders, though accustomed to a society in which the monarch was essential for religious life, did not establish a new monarchy in the colony, but rather a yearly assembly of free men, the Althing.

[6] Icelandic landowners (landnámsmenn[7]) were organised into goðorð ("god-word(s)"), religio-political groups under the leadership of a goði ("god-man").

[6] Concerning other religious practices, the Icelanders followed Scandinavian norms; they built temples enshrining images of the gods.

[8] The Icelanders worshipped landvættir, local land spirits, and the gods of the common northern Germanic tradition, within hof and hörgar.

[8] Icelanders generally tended to syncretism, integrating Jesus Christ among their deities rather than converting to the Christian doctrine.

[9] Among the first settlers, the vast majority followed the ancient Germanic religion, and organised Christianity probably died out in one or two generations.

[10] The adoption of Christianity — which at that time was still identical to the Roman Catholic Church and its official doctrine — as the state religion (kristnitaka, literally the "taking of Christianity"[11]), and therefore the formal conversion of the entire population, was decided by the Althing in 999/1000,[8] pushed by the king of Norway, Olaf Tryggvason.

[5] Amongst the other proselytisers, King Olaf of Norway sent the Icelandic native Stefnir Thorgilsson in 995–996 and the Saxon priest Thangbrand in 997–999.

[5] Both the missions were unsuccessful: Stefnir violently destroyed temples and ancestral shrines, leading the Althing to enact a law against Christians — who were declared frændaskomm, a "disgrace on one's kin", and could now be denounced to authorities — and to outlaw Stefnir, who returned to Norway; Thangbrand, a learnt but violent man, succeeded in converting some important families, but he also met many opponents, and, when he killed a poet who had composed verses against him, he was outlawed and he too went back to Norway.

[5] Thorgeir was trusted by both the religious factions, and he was given the responsibility to decide whether the Icelanders would have converted to Christianity or would have remained faithful to the Germanic religion of their ancestors.

[13] At first, it was maintained the right for people to sacrifice to the old gods in the private of their homes, although the practice was punishable if witnesses were provided.

[13] The decision of the Althing was a turning point; theretofore, it was difficult for individuals to convert to Christianity, since it would have meant to abandon the traditions of one's own kin, and would have been seen as ættarspillar — that is to say, "destruction of kinship".

[14] He is credited with having instituted a tithe system (sóknargjald) which made the Icelandic church financially independent and strengthened Christianity.

[17] The most important figure in early Icelandic Lutheranism was, however, Gissur Einarsson, who during a period of study in Germany learnt about the Reformation.

[17] In 1538, the "Church Ordinance" was put before the two bishops Øgmundur and Jón at the Althing as a royal invitation to convert to Lutheranism, but it was rejected.

[18] Church manuals and hymnals were in bad Danish translations, and new schools had to be set up in cathedral towns in order to train the Lutheran clergy.

[18] The able and energetic Gudbrandur Thorláksson, bishop of Hólar from 1571 to 1627, devoted his energies in improving church literature, clergy training and community education.

[19] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, religious life in Iceland, still mostly within the Christian establishment, was influenced by the spread of spiritualist beliefs.

[19] In 1972, four men proposed to create an organisation for the revitalisation of the northern Germanic religion; they founded the Ásatrúarfélagið ("Asatruar Fellowship") and asked the Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs to given their group's high priest the same legal status as that of a Christian pastor.

[1] At the same time, Roman Catholicism was the largest non-Lutheran form of Christianity in the country, adhered to by 3.83% of the Icelanders, many of whom belong to the Polish immigrant community;[1] Catholics are organised in the Diocese of Reykjavík, led by the bishop Dávid Bartimej Tencer (1963–) of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.

[27] In the twentieth century, Iceland had some notable converts to Catholicism, including Halldór Laxness and Jón Sveinsson.

The latter moved to France at the age of thirteen and became a Jesuit, remaining in the Society of Jesus for the rest of his life; he became a valued author of books for children, written in German, and even appeared on postage stamps.

Iceland has the highest proportion in Europe of Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies in relation to the total population of the country.

[33] The Icelanders' attitude towards the Jews has mostly been neutral, although in the early 20th century the intellectual Steinn Emilsson was influenced by anti-Semitic ideas while studying in Germany.

Article 63: All persons have the right to form religious associations and to practice their religion in conformity with their individual convictions.