It is no exaggeration that pastors in Iceland kept the society together. For the rural communities they were like a holy spirit of the sacrament: under, above and all around. Aside from the regular services they watched over their congregation, made sure their daily conduct was proper and according to Christian faith, and ensured children were raised properly and homes had all the necessary religious literature. The general health was a concern and regularly they had meetings with midwives. And it was their duty to direct individuals onto the correct path in life had they drifted off.
They registered all their regular pastoral duties such as baptism, confirmations, weddings, and funerals but that was not all. Pastors kept their own census and listed all new members of their congregation as well as those who left. This required a visit to every farm and listed everyone in each home, their position in the community, age, literacy, and progress in Christian studies (often it was considered enough to find out if everyone was confirmed).
And they had to be on alert when it came to weddings. Authorities opposed to the union could have serious consequences. Here is a sample from Eyjafjörður.
Rev. Sigurgeir at Grund in Eyjafjörður married the widow Guðlaug Gísladóttir and the widower Ingjaldur Halldórsson at Stekkjarflatir in Saurbæjarhrepur. Sheriff Sigfús Bergmann at Arnarneshreppur was against this and, when his efforts failed to nullify the marriage, he charged the pastor for performing an illegal wedding. It appears authorities in Arnarneshreppur suspected authorities in Saurbæjarhreppur of foul play. Guðlaug owed large amount of money to Saurbæjarhreppur but Ingjaldur’s lawful home was in Arnarneshreppur.
Possibly this wedding was some sort of tomfoolery. If true, the relief fund in Arnarneshreppur would need to reimburse the relief fund in Saurbæjarhrepur.
The pastor denied everything to no avail. The judge was in no doubt: Rev. Sigurgeir had admitted that he knew the difficulties the widow was having and that she “had annually received social benefits and was heavily indebted to Saurbæjarhreppur”. Despite his knowledge, the pastor failed to get the wedding approved by the Sheriff in Arnarneshreppur but accepted a questionable statement from the Sheriff in Saurbæjarhreppur that Guðlaug’s debt had been cancelled. Other issues of less significance complicated the case, but the judge had his mind made up and sentenced the pastor to repay the relief fund in Arnarneshreppur what relief benefit the newly-weds had received there during their 12 months’ residency. And there was more: Rev. Sigurgeir was to support them if they needed relief benefit in the future.
Obviously, pastors in the 19th century should not rush into things when asked to marry a couple. Rev. Þórður Jónassen at Hof in Möðruvallaklaustur parish was careful when Jón Sigurðsson, worker at Kamphóll brought up the possibility he might be getting married. He stated he had one woman in mind who had agreed when he proposed.
Rev. Þórður declined. You are poor, I will not marry such poor people as you, was his reply.
A little later the pastor learned worker Jón had found a groomsman, so he quickly found another way out. Rumour had it that Jón had leprosy so here was Rev. Þórður’s opportunity.
“I will not marry you unless you are clean after a thorough medical examination”, he told Jón.
This ended Jón’s attempts to get married, but not for too long.
A few years later he made another move and this time everything went according to plan. Rev. Jón B. Thorarensen at Tjörn in Svarfaðardalur married the couple, but soon after he had to answer for marrying a sick man. The interrogation that followed and a thorough examination of Jón let the pastor off the hook. No sign of leprosy was discovered, nor did he look sick “so it is quite amazing anyone ever thought he had leprosy” was Sheriff Stefán Thorarensens´s conclusion.
The above is based on research by Icelandic historian, Jón Hjaltason and his article “Prestar voru í áhættuhóp”. English version by Thor group