The _Edda_, by Samund, is one of the most valued poems of the ancient days of Iceland.

The second portion of the _Edda_, called _Skalda_, dates from a later period, and is ascribed by many to the celebrated Snorri Sturluson.

Isleif, first Bishop of Skalholt, was the earliest Icelandic historian; after him came the noted Snorri Sturluson, born in 1178, who became the richest and mightiest man in Iceland.
Snorri Sturluson was frequently followed to the General Assembly of Iceland by a splendid retinue of 800 armed men.

He was a great historian and poet, and possessed an accurate knowledge of the Greek and Latin tongues, besides being a powerful orator.

He was also the author of the _Heims-kringla_.
The first school was founded at Skalholt, about the middle of the eleventh century, under Isleif, first Bishop of Iceland; four other schools and several convents soon followed.