When was iceland first settled

Within a century, it is thought that Iceland was entirely deforested. This would have consequences regarding soil arability that has lasted to the present day. Up until the 14th Century, traditional Viking longhouses were built by the early settlers. This left enough room for windows and doors, but these residencies were rarely warm and required great fires in the center of the room, often causing respiratory problems, roofing was often turf as the home was built into the hillsides, and they frequently had to be repaired due to rain damage.

In order to sustain life in Iceland, it was a necessity for the early inhabitants to trade with the outside world. Whilst Iceland was abundant with certain provisions—i. From Greenland, Icelanders would import walrus ivory, fur and skins, whilst from Byzantium, they acquired such fine things as gems, silver, jewelry and wine. England provided early Icelanders with wheat, tin, honey and barley, whilst Russia and the East Baltic region offered up amber and slaves in equal measure.

For a time, the Icelanders held onto their belief in Norse mythology, following a lineage of an oral tradition that spanned back to the time of their ancestors in Scandinavia.

However, when Olaf Tryggvason ascended the Norwegian throne in AD, he decided to focus his efforts on converting those under his rule. Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Haukurth. Iceland fit this category at the time, and so Olaf sent across a number of missionaries with only partial success. In AD, after another unsuccessful conversion attempt, Olaf shut off all trade routes to Iceland, refusing the Icelandic merchant vessels entry to Norwegian ports.

Thorgeir was chosen for his reputation as a reasonable man who could act as a peaceful mediator between both sides of the debate. After deliberating for one day and one night under a fur blanket, Thorgeir finally concluded that Iceland should adopt a new faith. To mark the occasion, he brought his pagan idols to a waterfall and threw them in the abandonment of faith. These directly went against the teachings of the church but were ingrained cultural habits in the Icelandic population.

Once the church garnered full control in Iceland, all of these practices were rapidly banned. In the 13th century, a civil war is known as the Age of the Sturlungs gripped Iceland. This period of conflict is named after the Sturlungs, a powerful family in Iceland at that time. Whilst his uncle is more famed as a Saga writer, Sturla would make a name for himself aggressively warring with rival clans who refused to accept they were subject to the Norwegian monarch.

In the following years, however, skirmishes continued to erupt, and the Norwegian king was nothing if not persistent in stirring up trouble. This agreement ended the Icelandic Commonwealth and the island became a vassal of the Kingdom of Norway. One century later, Iceland would be granted to the Danish. Disaster struck Iceland with the violent eruption of the Laki volcano in the 18th century, beginning June and ending February , killing Icelandic citizens.

The snouts, nostrils, and feet of livestock grazing or walking on the grass turned bright yellow and raw. All water went tepid and light blue in color and gravel slides turned grey. As starvation set in and the weather patterns began to take a life of their own, social order in Iceland broke down and looting became a frequent occurrence. Aside from the prevailing hunger, many would die from either the extreme heat or the noxious gases that filled the air.

British cleric, Gilbert White , wrote of the time period:. The eruption had widespread consequences outside of Iceland, its influence reaching such far-flung corners as North America, the Sahel of Africa and Europe.

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by army. This vote occurred only four years after Denmark had succumbed to the invading German Army, a position that had left Iceland, a neutral country, in a rather precarious position in the years preceding its own illegal occupation. But was Iceland ever at threat from the Axis in the first place? For one thing, Iceland is positioned directly between mainland Europe, to its east, and North America, to its west, and looms over the Atlantic Ocean.

This is a highly advantageous spot for tacticians who understand that, effectively, whoever operates military bases in Iceland, be they ports or airfields, has dominion over sea and air traffic in that wide and vulnerable stretch of ocean, as well as easy access to both landmasses.

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Oxyman. So too did Britain want to build their own bases in Iceland as a means of strengthening their North Patrol. The next day, April 10, the Althingi declared that Denmark was incapable of fulfilling its duties supporting Iceland and thus transferred all powers to the domestic government. It was a sure sign of the events to come On May 6, British prime minister Winston Churchill made a case to the war cabinet that building military bases in Iceland was an essential step in preemptively denying the country to Axis forces.

He argued that further diplomatic efforts with the Icelandic government would likely reveal British invasion plans to the Germans, hence it was a more strategic move to invade without any prior warning.

There was little fear such an operation could fail. After all, the Icelanders had no standing army and there would likely be only a handful of German resistors. Dined and worked. Planning conquest of Iceland for next week. Shall probably be too late! The invasion plan, Operation Fork , was conducted haphazardly en route. There were no Icelandic speakers among the invasion force and many of the maps being used had been drawn from memory.

When the force finally did arrive, the British were surprised to find the Icelanders rather accommodating, even helping the soldiers unload supplies from their ship.

Upon arriving at the German consulate, British forces were relieved to find no sign of resistance. What they did find, however, was a fiery bathtub, midway through burning intelligence documents, and Consul Gerlach angrily protesting that Iceland was a neutral country. After being reminded that Denmark had too been a neutral country, the Consul was arrested.

During the war years, the British and Canadian troops in Iceland would eventually fall to the wayside in favor of US Forces. The noxious gas clouds blotted out the sun across Europe and caused freak weather events, such as acid rain and floods. Fleeing political upheaval and later Viking raids, Irish monks are believed to have been the first to arrive in Iceland as temporary settlers, sometime between the seventh and ninth centuries.

For two weeks every summer, chieftains from across Iceland convened in an outdoor assembly on the plains of Thingvellir, a rift valley east of Reykjavik where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates converge. All free and law-abiding citizens could attend as the assembly passed laws and administered justice. The member Althingi now meets in Reykjavik, but ceremonial gatherings, such as the ceremony marking Icelandic independence on June 17, , still occur at Thingvellir. Iceland was the birthplace of Leif Eriksson, who is believed by many to have led the first European voyage to North America.

It also did not broadcast during the vacation month of July until With just over , people, Iceland is one of the least-populated countries in the world. The name stared him in the eye and Iceland came to be. But, he infamously sailed to Iceland and brought with him his three ravens.

This is believed to be how he found his way to Iceland. He, however, like many, would return to Scandinavia. As it turns out, Icelandic nature is a force to reckon with. Endured by only the most stubborn of humans. Not only in place names but also in commemorative statues and rebuilt settlements all around the country.

There are many different ways for you to explore the Viking age in Iceland. Like all historically sites, they are best enjoyed with a little pre-existing knowledge.

So, this blog is here to help. Who these Vikings were can be a bit hard to explain but the word, Vikings, even has various meanings in different languages.

For some it is he who sails, for others the word is more of an occupation. Historically it has often been linked with violence which is perhaps not surprising given that Vikings did raid towns and villages on their journeys across the seas famously taking anything they wanted. Thereby not only increasing their wealth but also kidnapping workers, and even future wives.

The majority of male settlers came from the Nordic countries, largely Norway. However, most female settlers came from the British Isles. Furthermore, strengthening the theory of the Vikings kidnapping women. After he has been made an outlaw from Norway. This is thought to have been around e. He traveled with his sister, brother-in-law and their families. After a long journey across the North Atlantic, they laid out to sea two large wooden logs and then sent their slaves to find where they had landed.

He pledged to settle where they would land. She came from a noble lineage and married Olaf the White. Her son would later become the king of Scotland. However, when the son was overthrown and killed, her status became unstable. At this point in time her husband had passed and there was no prospect of revenge or reconciliation.

When the ship was all set and ready to launch she set off, traveling with her daughter in law and family. On her way to Iceland, she stopped in Ork islands and married off one of her granddaughters, doing the same in the Faroe Islands. She traveled to see her brother, Helgi, who lived at Kjalarnes in Iceland but when he could only host half of her crew she left him and traveled further North to try her luck with the brother Bjarni. She gave many of her fellow travelers part of her land but she herself named her farmstead, Hvammur.

The wedding was planned for three days and be a funeral service for her as well. Not long after she passed and was buried on the beach.