Grand Lodge of Iceland

History

Freemasonry in Iceland began in 1913 when a "society of brothers", Edda, was established, in Reykjavik. Then, in 1918 Edda became a lodge of instruction. A year later, on the 6th of January 1919, it became a fully warranted lodge. Since then, a total of twelve warranted lodges and six lodges of instruction have been established. Icelandic Freemasonry was under the jurisdiction of the The National Grand Lodge of Denmark (Den Danske Frimurerorden) until 1951 when the Danish Grand Master constituted the Grand Lodge of Iceland as a sovereign Order which has a total membership of 3.071 as of the 30th of June, 2002.

Structure

Icelandic Freemasonry operates according to the Swedish Rite which is the dominant system in four of the Nordic countries and to some extent in Finland and Germany. It consists of eleven degrees, all of which are considered a part of Freemasonry. This system differs considerably from those used in English-speaking countries. However, there are common characteristics which make a visit to an Icelandic lodge meeting interesting and most worthwhile.