The Pen and the Borrowed Sword

Abstract

In this article the defining outlines of Icelandic defense policy are examined, initially by drawing parallels between requests in 1663 and 2003 for Icelandic participation in military measures, having as their source a supposed threat from the Middle East. In this synthetic approach, five pillars of Icelandic defense policy are suggested, among them protection from a greater power, i.e. the ‘borrowed sword’. The article concludes with a fictious response from the 17th century Icelandic Church Synod to a request by President Bush for Icelandic support of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Keywords:

• Corsairs
• defense
• Iceland

Notes

1. A year later, President Bush, in telephone talks with the Icelandic Prime Minister, uttered some positive messages in regard to the defense agreement. We are thankful for your support and our cooperation the last few months, he said, meaning the support for the invasion of Iraq. “Bush vildi aÐ skilaboÐin til okkar væru jákvæÐ.” MorgunblaÐiÐ (16 April 2004), 1.

2. Helgason, Jón, Úr bréfabókum Brynjólfs biskups Sveinssonar,155–8. The resolution exists in a few versions, a somewhat different one is printed in Már Jónsson, GuÐs dýrÐ og sálnanna velferÐ, 242–6. In the present article, the first version is used unless otherwise stated.

3. Þorsteinsson, Annálar 1400–1800, 362.

4. Þorláksson, Saga Íslands VII. Reykjavík, 150–68.

5. His chef'd'oeuvre, Passíusálmarnir, have been translated into several languages, including English. Pétursson. Hymns of the Passion: Meditations on the Passion of Christ.

6. Those who have mastered the German language now have the opportunity to read a 478 page long, well‐researched novel about this person, translated from Icelandic: Jóhannesdóttir, Das sechste Siegel.

7. Turbet‐Delof, L'Afrique Barbaresque dans la Littérature Française aux XVI et XVII siècles.

8. AÐils, Einokunarverzlun Dana á Íslandi 1602–1787, 595–7. Þorkelsson, Ríkisréttindi Íslands, 123. Þorláksson, Saga Íslands VII, 140–1.

9. AÐils, Einokunarverzlun Dana, 629–30.

10. “…betur besigla þær hafnir sem þeim eru léntar meÐ góÐum, velskreiÐum varnarkaupskipum, sjálfum sér og sinni höndlan til góÐa…” Jónsson, GuÐs dýrÐ og sálnanna velferÐ, 244.

11. Þorsteinsson, Annálar 1400–1800, 48.

12. Þorkelsson, TyrkjarániÐ á Íslandi 1627, 368–9.

13. Jarrick, “Bara människan har en världshistoria.”

14. Öryggis‐ og varnarmál Íslands, 7.

15. SigurÐsson, Upplýsing og saga, 133.

16. Landsnefndin 1770–1771, 93–6.

17. Benediktsson, Utanríkismál Íslands, 17.

18. Einarsson, Íslandslýsing, 143.

19. Gissurarson, Sólarsýn, 20.

20. Stephensen, Magnús, Eftirmæli átjándu aldar. Leirárg⊘rdum vid Leirá: Forlag Islands opinberu Vísinda‐Stiptunar, 1806), 828.

21. The impact of guns on women's lives.

22. Ingimundarson, Í eldlínu kalda stríÐsins, 37–8.

23. Bjarnason, “Varnarhugmynd í grýtta jörÐ.” Bjarnason's idea was proposed at a security conference: “Icelandic Security and Transatlantic Affairs.”

24. Bjarnason, “Varnarhugmynd í grýtta jörÐ.”

25. Helgason, Þorsteinn, “Sværdet der står ud af munden. En dansk‐islandsk altertavle fra 1650”, 29–45.

26. Agnarsdóttir, “Ísland á bresku áhrifasvæÐi fram aÐ síÐari heimsstyrjöld”, 162–78.

27. Stephensen, Lovsamling for Island, 370–3.

28. Stephensen, Lovsamling for Island, 542.

29. “…konungsvaldi fannst tilhlýÐilegt aÐ æskja sérstakra framlaga vegna varnarmála og stríÐsrekstrar en aÐ landsmönnum hafi oftar en ekki lánast aÐ fá slík gjöld lækkuÐ eÐa hreinlega tekist aÐ humma þau fram af sér.” Þorláksson, “Forysta Brynjólfs biskups Sveinssonar í landsmálum”, 158.

30. Niels M. Probst has collected information on the Danish navy during Christian IV's reign where it is obvious that the “cleansing” of pirates and privateers was one of its main occupations. Probst, Christian 4.s flåde.

31. MorgunblaÐiÐ (18 August 2003), 1.

32. MorgunblaÐiÐ (21 September 2003), 25.

33. Corgan, “AÐdragandinn vestanhafs aÐ hervernd Bandaríkjamanna á Íslandi 1941”, 134.

34. Schultz, Turmoil and Triumph. My Years as Secretary of State, 755.

35. Corgan, Iceland and Its Alliances, 7.

36. Ingimundarson, Í eldlínu kalda stríÐsins, 408.

37. GuÐbjörnsdóttir, “OrÐræÐa um sjálfsmyndir, íslenska menningu og hnattvæÐingu.”

38. Ingimundarson, “Iceland vs. U.S.: Relations on ice over U.S. jets.”

39. Ingimundarson, “In memoriam: OrÐræÐa um orustuþotur 1961–2006”, 57.

40. Gísladóttir, “ Minn staÐur er hér þar sem Evrópa endar.”