Icelander raised to this high dignity was Ulfliot (925), who, though sixty years of age, proceeded to Norway to obtain a more intimate acquaintance with the unwritten observances of that kingdom. Under the direction of Thorleif the Wise, he obtained in three years the information which he sought; and on his return to Iceland he promulgated a code that for many generations regulated the decisions of the deemsters, or local judges. Its provisions have unfortunately perished, with the exception of some inconsiderable fragments. They were no doubt nearly identical with those which governed the parent country; but of the latter we have not one in the state in which it was originally promulgated,—not one that has not been altered by succeeding legislators. The spirit of the code which Thorleif himself compiled at the instance of Hako the Good, can be inferred only from the general character of Norwegian society, and from the legal provisions of later times; provisions which are, in truth, but adaptations of ancient penalties to an altered state of society. The laws designed for pagan use would obviously require considerable modification before they could be adopted by Christians. [Sidenote: 930.] To understand rightly the social condition of Iceland during the pagan and indeed the succeeding ages, too much attention cannot be paid to the political constitution and the civil administration of that interesting colony. The island was divided into four great districts,—viertel; and over each was a chief magistrate elected by the people. At certain periods, there was an assembly of the freemen in each; all had a voice in the deliberations; all could vote; and the magistrate whom they had chosen was entrusted with the execution of such laws, such regulations, as they adopted. But though comprising one fourth only of the habitable portion of the island, each of these districts was too extensive to render the meetings of the freemen so frequent as the interests of the community required. Hence the sub-division of each into inferior districts, which had their meetings for the transaction of such business as was more peculiarly local. Affairs which concerned the whole community could be discussed only in the _Al-Thing_, or great national assembly, which was held once a year. The place of meeting was situated on a level plain, on the shores of the lake of Thingvalle, and was called _the Law Mount_. Justice, indeed, was generally administered on an eminence among all the nations of Gothic origin; not because there was any sanctity in a hill, but that the proceedings might be more visible to the multitude. During eight centuries the Law Mount continued to be the scene of the national assemblies; and it is only in our own times that the place of meeting has been removed to a spot more convenient indeed to the scattered population, but less hallowed by time. The president was chosen for life,—an anomaly surely in a