What is fitter for a boy
Than his father’s arms.
You need not whet the iron,
Nor cut the turf,
Leave this hideous work,
I shall live yet with men.
(Landnáma V. c. 6.)
Thereupon the boy was water-sprinkled, and named Thorstein.”
The custom of exposing children was so deeply rooted in the minds of the people that Christianity itself could not at first prevent it from taking place.
“It was then made law, that all men of the country should become Christians, and such as were not baptized should be so. But in regard to child exposure and the eating of horseflesh the old law was to stand; men would be allowed to sacrifice in secret, if they wished to, but became outlaws if witnesses saw it” (Islendingabók, c. 7).