in a manner, the like of which had never been seen in Iceland, he lived like a prince, maintaining an armed force which seemed to threaten the republic. Ruins of his bath-house are yet to be seen, and yet bear his name (Snorrelaug). The bath was built of hewn stones, and the hot water was conducted by a stone aqueduct from the neighboring geysers. [Illustration: HÖRGADAL IN THE NORTH OF ICELAND.] Snorre had two brothers, Thord and Sighvat. The former was of a quiet disposition, and not over-ambitious, while the latter was Snorre's counterpart, and like him engaged in increasing his fortune by trickery and violence. Two men, thus constituted, would scarcely be restrained by their fraternal relation, when their interests clashed; and before long, we find Sighvat and Snorre at swords' points. By the weight of his influence, Snorre gradually absorbed the more important offices in the gift of his countrymen. Thus he was, in 1215, elected speaker of the law, and in this capacity came in conflict with his foster-brother, Saemund Jonsson, who took exception to one of his rulings. The Icelandic Althing was both a legislative assembly and a supreme court, and it was the duty of the speaker in legal cases to decide what was law. If any of the contending parties rejected the decision of the Althing, an appeal to the sword was always open to him. The law was a consultative, not an absolute power, and depended upon its fairness for its authority. Snorre, whose duty it was to give weight to the law, had so small respect for his office, that he appeared with eight hundred and forty armed men, determined to overawe his opponents. A compromise was with difficulty arranged, but the seed of mischief had been sown, and was not slow to sprout and bear fruit. Snorre's fame had, in the meanwhile, reached Norway, and many honorable invitations were extended to him from the foremost chieftains of the land. Accordingly he set sail in 1218, with a large train of followers, visited King Haakon and Earl Skule, and gained the latter's friendship. The king made him his liegeman, and it is said that Snorre promised Skule to bring Iceland under the dominion of the mother country. The plan was a tempting one. If by the surrender of the liberties of the island, he could attain the dignity of Earl of Iceland, he could, at one blow, by Skule's aid, crush all his enemies, and reign undisputed as the first man in the land. On his return home, however, he discovered that the obstacles in his way were greater than he had anticipated. It appears, even, that he repented of his rash promise, and was anxious to postpone the day of its fulfilment. Whether, in his subsequent machinations, he meant to secure his own predominance, as a means to carrying out his bargain with the earl, is difficult to determine.