Religion in Iceland

The first religions in Iceland are closely related to the first settlements of the island. They were initially Christian monks Irish who were established at the beginning of the 9th century, then the Viking S which colonized the island during second half of the 9th century, the latter celebrated the gods of the Scandinavian Mythologie. During the 10th century the country gradually christianized until Christianity becomes Religion of State in the An millet. Today the population is in great majority Lutheran. There exist however various Christian Churches as well as small pagan communities , Buddhist, bahaïstes and Moslem recognized officially by the State. The belief in the elves perdurent among certain Icelandic although it does not have the statute of religion.

Scandinavian paganism

Many were the Icelandic first Sagas to be taken as a starting point the Scandinavian paganism although they were written, for the majority, after official conversion with Christianity. In this direction, the Saga de Hrafnkell is perhaps one of the most famous examples: its main character is dedicated to Freyr, the god of the life in the the Scandinavian Pantheon.

Since the Years 1970, Iceland witnesses a rebirth of the Scandinavian religion thanks to collectives claiming Asatru and wishing to revive the old faith. Among them: the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið and the Ásatrúarfélag.

Christianity

See also: Christianity in Iceland

The Christian presence in Iceland is attested as of the beginnings of the colonization of the island. Minority initially, Christianity rose with the statute of Religion of State in 999 at the time of the conversion voted by the Althing. The Reform come, Iceland tore between catholic and Protestant; the latter carried it definitively running XVII {{E}} century. The country is today with very strong majority Lutheran (91% of the population) and counts many other small Christian communities: catholic S, pentecotists, adventist, jehovists, Mormon etc gathering nearly 11500 faithful, i.e. 4% of the population.

Bahaïsme

The community bahaïste represents less than one percent of the population, it counted 387 faithful in 2006

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