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Thesettlement of Iceland (Icelandic:landnámsöld[ˈlantˌnaumsˌœlt]) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the ninth century, whenNorse settlers migrated across theNorth Atlantic. The reasons for the migration are uncertain: later in the Middle Ages Icelanders themselves tended to cite civil strife brought about by the ambitions of theNorwegian kingHarald I of Norway, but modern historians focus on deeper factors, such as a shortage ofarable land inScandinavia. Unlike Great Britain and Ireland,Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants.
On the basis ofÍslendingabók byAri Þorgilsson, andLandnámabók, histories dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and providing a wealth of detail about the settlement, the years 870 and 874 have traditionally been considered the first years of settlement. However, these sources are largely unreliable in the details they provide about the settlement, and recent research focuses more heavily on archaeological and genetic evidence.[1]
Traditionally, the Icelandic Age of Settlement is considered to have lasted from 874 to 930, at which point most of the island had been claimed andAlþingi (Althingi), the assembly of theIcelandic Commonwealth, was founded atÞingvellir (Thingvellir). Iceland is thus the second-to-last major land mass to be permanently settled by humans (Madagascar andNew Zealand being colonized in the mid-first millennium and thirteenth century, respectively).
According to one hypothesis, which is based on radiocarbon dating evidence fromVestmannaeyjar off the southern coast of Iceland, the island was first settled by Norsemen as early as the end of the sixth century or in the seventh century. The dated material was found under a layer oftephra (volcanic fragments), called the 'Settlement Layer', left by an eruption dated throughice core analysis to about 871. However, doubts have been raised about the accuracy of this dating because of the possible effect of volcanic carbon dioxide on the dating process. According to Magnús Stefánsson, the attribution of this material to a sixth-to-seventh-century settlement should be rejected.[2][3]
Other archaeological sites have been found which predate the traditionally accepted date of 874 for the earliest settlement of the island.[4] Some dwellings were excavated in Reykjavík in 1971–73 which were found below the 'Settlement Layer' and thus must date to before 870.[2] A cabin inHafnir was abandoned between 770 and 880 CE. It is thought to have been a hunting and fishing outpost only inhabited part of the year, but it is not known whether it was built by people from Scandinavia, Ireland or Scotland.[5] Twolonghouses built consecutively on the same site in Stöð near the village ofStöðvarfjörður in eastern Iceland have been excavated since 2015. The older of these is one of the largest longhouses ever found in Iceland and may date to as early as 800. Bjarni F. Einarsson, the head of the archaeological team which excavated the site, believes that the older longhouse was used as a summer outpost by Scandinavians. In archaeologist Orri Vésteinsson's view, there was probably a period of seasonal settlement of the island before permanent settlements were established.[6]
TheÍslendingabók ofAri Thorgilsson claims that the Norse settlers encounteredGaelic monks, calledpapar by the Norsemen, from aHiberno-Scottish mission when they arrived in Iceland. There is some archaeological evidence for a monastic settlement from Ireland at Kverkarhellir cave, on the Seljaland farm in southern Iceland. Sediment deposits indicate people lived there around 800, and crosses consistent with the Hiberno-Scottish style were carved in the wall of a nearby cave.[7][8] Ari Thorgilsson writes that the monks left upon the arrival of the Norsemen since they did not want to live with non-Christians.[2]
The oldest known source which mentions the name "Iceland" is an eleventh-centuryrune carving fromGotland. There is a possible early mention of Iceland in the bookDe mensura orbis terrae by the Irish monkDicuil, dating to 825.[9] Dicuil claimed to have met some monks who had lived on the island ofThule. They said that darkness reigned during winter but that the summers were bright enough to pick lice from one's clothing, but the veracity of this source may be questioned. Additionally, Iceland is only about 450 kilometres from theFaroes, which had been visited by Irish monks in the sixth century, and settled by the Norse around 650.[citation needed]
Written sources consider the age of settlement in Iceland to have begun with settlement byIngólfr Arnarson around 874, for he was the first to sail to Iceland with the purpose of settling the land. Archaeological evidence shows that extensive human settlement of the island indeed began at this time, and "that the whole country was occupied within a couple of decades towards the end of the ninth century."[10] Estimates of the number of people who migrated to the country during the Age of Settlement range between 4,300 and 24,000,[11] with estimates of the number of initial settlers ranging between 311 and 436.[12]
While the written sources emphasise settlement from Norway, genetic evidence shows that the founder population of Iceland came from Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavia: studies ofmitochondrial DNA andY-chromosomes indicate that 62% of Icelanders' matrilineal ancestry derives from Scotland and Ireland (with most of the rest being from Scandinavia), while 75% of their patrilineal ancestry derives from Scandinavia (with most of the rest being from the Irish and British Isles).[13] Archaeogenetic evidence suggests that the actual founding population included a higher proportion again of settlers from the Irish and British Isles: one study found that the mean Norse ancestry among Iceland's settlers was 56%, whereas in the current population the figure was 70%. It is thought likely that most of the settlers from Ireland and Scotland came as slaves, and therefore reproduced less successfully than higher-status settlers from Scandinavia, making them ancestors of a smaller proportion of the modern population.[14]
Though the notion that population pressure drove migration to Iceland remains unsupported in the academic literature, a number of reasons have been offered for the settlement of Iceland:[15]
Written sources say some settlers took land freely, others bought lands from earlier settlers, some were gifted land by earlier settlers, and that some settlers took lands from others through the use of force or threat of force. Lands were likely not rented during the Age of settlement. MedievalistHans Kuhn argued that lands were given away or taken freely because earlier settlers had no need for such extensive lands. HistorianGunnar Karlsson notes that it could be rational for earlier settlers to encourage new settlers to settle lands nearby so as to ease maintenance of cattle and slaves, and as insurance in times of crisis.[16]
Ari Thorgilsson claims inÍslendingabók that the country had been "fully settled" by 930. Correspondingly,Landnámabók suggests that within about sixty years, all the usable land had been taken; it mentions 1,500 farm and place names, and more than 3,500 people, arranged in a geographical fashion.[13]
In the periodisation of Icelandic history, therefore, the age of settlement is considered to have ended in the year 930 with the establishment ofAlþingi; at this point theIcelandic Commonwealth period is considered to begin.[15] Archeological evidence shows, however, "that immigrants continued to arrive in Iceland throughout the 10th century".[10] The authors of one study speculate that "continued immigration may have been needed to sustain the population".[10]
Landnámabók claims that the first Norseman to rest his feet on Icelandic soil was aviking by the name ofNaddoddr. Naddoddr stayed for only a short period of time, but gave the country a name:Snæland (Land of Snow). He was followed by the viking explorerGarðar Svavarsson, who was the first to stay over winter. At some time around 860, a storm pushed his ship far to the north until he reached the eastern coast of Iceland. Garðar approached the island from the east, sailed westward along the coast and then up north, building a house inHúsavík. He completed a full circle, circumnavigating the island and establishing that the landmass in question was indeed an island. He departed the following summer, never to return but not before giving the island a new name –Garðarshólmur (literally, Garðar's Island). One of his men,Náttfari, decided to stay behind with two slaves. Náttfari settled in what is now known as Náttfaravík, close toSkjálfandi.Landnámabók maintains that Náttfari was not a permanent settler.
The next Norseman to arrive in Iceland was namedFlóki Vilgerðarson, but the year of his arrival is not clear. According to the story told inLandnámabók, he took three ravens to help him find his way. Thus, he was nicknamed Raven-Flóki (Icelandic:Hrafna-Flóki). Flóki set his ravens free near the Faroe Islands. The first raven flew back to the Faroes. The second flew up in the air and then returned to the ship. However, the third flew in front of the ship and they followed its direction to Iceland.
He landed inVatnsfjörður in theWestfjords after passing what is nowReykjavík. One of his men, Faxi, remarked that they seemed to have found great land—the bay facing Reykjavík is therefore known asFaxaflói. A harsh winter caused all of Flóki's cattle to die—he cursed this cold country, and when he spotted a drift ice in the fjord he decided to name it "Ísland" (Iceland). Despite difficulties in finding food, he and his men stayed another year, this time inBorgarfjörður, but they headed back toNorway the following summer. Flóki would return much later and settle in what is now known asFlókadalur.
It is said with accuracy that a Norwegian called Ingólfr travelled from there [Norway] to Iceland for the first time when Haraldr the Fine-Haired was sixteen years old, and a second time a few years later; he settled in the south in Reykjarvík.[17]
— Íslendingabók
Another Norseman, by the name ofIngólfur Arnarson, had instigated a blood feud in his homeland, Norway. He and his foster-brotherHjörleifr Hróðmarsson went on an exploratory expedition to Iceland, and stayed over winter in what is nowÁlftafjörður. A few years later they returned to settle the land with their men. When they approached the island, Ingólfur cast hishigh seat pillars overboard and swore that he would settle where they drifted to shore. He then sent his slavesVífill andKarli to search for the pillars.
In the meantime, Hjörleifr had been murdered by his Irish slaves. Ingólfr hunted them down and killed them in theWestman Islands. The islands got their name from that event, withwestmen (Old Norse:vestmenn) being a name that the Norsemen used for the Irish. Ingólfr was said to have settled a large part of southwestern Iceland, although after his settlement nothing more was known of him. His son, Þorsteinn Ingólfsson, was a major chieftain and was said to have founded theKjalarnesþing [is], the firstthing, or parliament, in Iceland. It was a forerunner of theAlthingi.[18]
As winter approached, Ingólfur's slaves found the pillars byArnarhvoll. When summer came, he built a farmstead inReykjavík and claimed all the land west of the rivers ofÖlfusá,Öxará andBrynjudalsá. His slave Karli did not care for the location, and said to Ingólfur: "How ill that we should pass good land, to settle in this remote peninsula."
As aforementioned, many Vikings adapted to anagrarian lifestyle after settling in Iceland. This meant, for the most part, an abandonment of theirraiding practices. This in turn led to a shift in Viking mentality towards a community minded society using alternative methods of conflict resolution, rather than just manslaughter.[19]
Viking Iceland’s self-governing nature[20] led to an emphasis on individual integrity. Sources say this may be due in part to ideas of land ownership, but stated that the aspect of self-government led to a cohesive cultural identity and bond.[20] MedievalistJesse L. Byock notes that while there were feuds, they consistently showed restraint in that few reached beyond the point of a vendetta. Scholars theorize this is because long-term feuding affected participation in social culture, leading to isolation for those feuding in the winter months, which would have negative psychological affects.[19] As Iceland itself is small and isolated, the individualistic “us against them” mentality didn’t last long, and gave way to less violent forms of vendetta.[19] This is a major shift in contrast to the raiding and pillaging going on in the rest of theViking World and sets Viking-age Iceland apart from other Norse settlements.
Prior to thedeforestation of Iceland in the Middle Ages, some 40% of the land was forested.[21] Today, the country is about 2% forested, with theIcelandic Forest Service aiming to increase that share to 10% throughreforestation and natural regrowth.[22]Scholars have argued that the settlers caused soil erosion through extensive deforestation andovergrazing.[15] One study suggests that the primary motive for the deforestation was "clearance for pastures and home-fields", not the "settlers' requirements for fuel and building material".[23]
