“Floki took three ravens with him on the voyage. When he set the first one free it flew back from the stern, but the second raven flew straight up into the air, and then back down to the ship, while the third flew straight ahead from the prow, and it was in that direction that they found land.” (Landnámabók, 17).
The island was discovered around the year 850, though perhaps earlier, by Scandinavian seamen who had been blown off course. Word spread of free land and soon free farmers from across the Viking realm went to Iceland. Along with them came small-scale chieftains, but they did not come as leaders. There was no large-scale settlement before them, and so they had the luxury of settling anywhere they desired. Later generations called these settlers landnámsmenn (lit. land taking men, or land-takers). This produced a major a “founders” effect.
The first settlers were both men and women asserting self-interest. They journeyed 1,000 km across the sea to discover a truly beautiful land. Most landnámsmenn (a term including women, by the way) came directly from Scandinavia, mostly Norway. However, many settlers also came from Viking encampments in the Celtic lands. In fact, some colonists were completely Celtic. Sagas reveal Celtic names, such as Njáll and Kormákr (Old Irish Níall and Cormac).
During the landnám period (ca. 870–930), at least ten thousand people emigrated to Iceland, perhaps even twenty thousand. They came on ships called knerrir (sg. knörr), which were loaded with goods and livestock (holding up to 30 tons of cargo each). The land they reached was uncultivated and generally uninhabited, with the exception of some Irish monks who sought solitude. Those monks came in their native ships called curachs and were called papar (sg. papi) by settlers. They left on their own accord once the Scandinavians came.
By 930, they established a general assembly, called the Althing (Alþingi), and Iceland functioned as an island-wide community.
Sources:
- Jesse L. Byock, Viking Age Iceland. (London: Penguin, 2001), 9-11.
- Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards trans., The Book of Settlements (Landnámabók). (University of Manitoba Press, 2012), 17.
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