This book represents what is, I believe, practically a pioneer attempt to do some such work in the field of Icelandic Hymnology as that already done so admirably in the Latin, Greek, and German fields.
Icelandic sacred song is worthy of study, as well for its own sake, as because it is the flower of the spiritual life of a people and of a church so nearly akin to our own, and yet situated in such a different environment. The closeness of this relationship is not often realized. Iceland was largely colonized by Norse settlers from our islands as well as from Norway. Even the Celtic element was not absent from the blood of the new nation. The greatest of Icelandic Sagas, Njls Saga, is simply "Neil's Saga." And the Icelandic language itself, so unintelligible to us now, was spoken over half England a thousand years ago by the Norsemen, spoken, too, by some of our Kings. It is our language that has changed, not theirs. The modern Icelander still speaks what is practically the tongue of the Sagas.
