Settlement of Iceland

The settlement of Iceland (Icelandic: Landnámsöld) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century, when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of arable land in Scandinavia and civil strife brought about by the ambitions of the Norwegian king Harald I of Norway. Unlike the British Isles, Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants.

On the basis of Íslendingabók by Ari Thorgilsson, and Landnámabók, the years 870 and 874 have traditionally been considered the first years of settlement. Historian Gunnar Karlsson notes that these sources are largely unreliable in terms of dating settlement. 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 and Alþingi (Althingi), the assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth, was founded in Þingvellir (Thingvellir). Almost everything known about the first settlers comes from Íslendingabók, and Landnámabók, two historical records preserved in skin manuscripts. Estimates of the number of initial settlers range between 311 and 436.

The Íslendingabók of Ari Thorgilsson claims that the Norse settlers encountered Gaelic monks from a Hiberno-Scottish mission when they arrived in Iceland. There is some archaeological evidence for a monastic settlement from the British Isles 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. The oldest known source which mentions the name "Iceland" is an 11th-century Gothic rune carving, while the oldest archeological finds indicating settlement date back to the 9th century. The first written source to mention the existence of Iceland is a book by the Goidelic monk Dicuil, De mensura orbis terrae, which dates back to 825. Dicuilus claimed to have met some monks who had lived on the island of Thule. They said that darkness reigned during winter but that the summers were bright enough to pick lice from one's clothing. While the veracity of this source may be questioned, there is little doubt that the inhabitants of the British Isles were aware of a sizeable land mass far up north. Additionally, Iceland is only about 450 kilometres from the Faroes which had been visited by Irish monks in the 6th century, and settled by the Norse around 650.

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