The
Icelandic Commonwealth,
Icelandic Free State, or
Republic of Iceland ( or, less commonly,
goðaveldið) was the state existing in
Iceland between the establishment of the Alþingi (
Althing) in 930 and the pledge of
fealty to the Norwegian king with the
Old Covenant in 1262. With the probable exception of
Papar, Iceland was an uninhabited island until around 870.