Icelanders
The first Viking to sight Iceland was Gardar Svavarsson, who went off course due to harsh conditions when sailing from Norway to the Faroe Islands. His reports led to the first efforts to settle the island. Flóki Vilgerðarson arrived in the 9th century and named the island Ísland. The first permanent settler was a Norwegian chieftain named Ingólfur Arnarson. He settled with his family around 874 at a place he called Bay of Smokes. This location is now known as Reykjavík.
Following Ingólfur, another group of Norwegians set sail across the North Atlantic Ocean in 874. They traveled thousands of miles in their Viking longships to reach the island. These people were primarily of Norwegian, Irish or Gaelic Scottish origin. The Irish and the Scottish Gaels were either slaves or servants of the Norse chiefs according to the Icelandic sagas. Genetic evidence suggests that approximately 62% of the Icelandic maternal gene pool is derived from Ireland and Scotland.
In 930, on the Þingvellir plain near Reykjavík, the chieftains and their families met and established the Alþingi. This assembly became Iceland's first national parliament. However, the Alþingi lacked the power to enforce the laws it made. In 1262, struggles between rival chieftains left Iceland so divided that King Haakon IV of Norway stepped in as arbitrator for all disputes.
Iceland was under Norwegian leadership until 1380 when the Royal House of Norway died out. At this point both Iceland and Norway came under the control of the Danish Crown. With the introduction of absolute monarchy in Denmark, the Icelanders relinquished their autonomy including the right to initiate legislation. This meant a loss of independence which led to nearly 300 years of decline. In 1798, 99 the Alþingi was discontinued for several decades before being restored in 1844.
Iceland gained full sovereignty and independence from Denmark in 1918 after World War I. It became the Kingdom of Iceland with the King of Denmark also serving as King of Iceland. On the 17th of June 1944 the monarchy was abolished and a republic was established on Jón Sigurðsson's 133rd birthday. This ended nearly six centuries of ties with Denmark.
Due to their small founding population and history of relative isolation, Icelanders have often been considered highly genetically homogeneous compared to other European populations. Genetic evidence shows that most DNA lineages found among Icelanders today can be traced to the settlement of Iceland. Studies indicate that 75% of Icelanders' patrilineal ancestry derives from Scandinavia while 62% of their matrilineal ancestry derives from Scotland and Ireland.
One study found that the mean Norse ancestry among Iceland's settlers was 56%, whereas in the current population the figure was 70%. This indicates that Icelanders with increased levels of Norse ancestry had higher reproductive success. Many settlers of Gaelic ancestry came to Iceland as slaves whose survival and freedom to reproduce is likely to have been constrained. A tiny proportion of samples of contemporary Icelanders carry a more distant lineage belonging to haplogroup C1e which possibly traces back to Native American ancestry arising from Norse colonization of Greenland and North America.
Icelandic has inflectional grammar comparable to Latin and Ancient Greek but is practically identical to Old Norse. Written Icelandic has changed little since the 13th century. Because of this modern readers can understand the Icelanders' sagas. The sagas tell of events in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries. They are considered to be the best-known pieces of Icelandic literature.
The elder or Poetic Edda contains poems and stories from the late 10th century. The younger or Prose Edda serves as a manual of poetry containing many stories of Norse mythology. Saga literature ranges from pure fiction to fairly factual history. Kjartan Ólafsson and Bolli Þorleiksson appear as characters in Laxdæla saga written in the 13th century. These works form the foundation of national identity and cultural continuity across centuries.
From the mid-1990s, Iceland experienced rising immigration patterns that shifted dramatically from previous emigration trends. By 2017 the population of first-generation immigrants stood at 35,997 representing 10.6% of residents. The population of second-generation immigrants reached 4,473 during the same period. Correspondingly, the numbers of foreign-born people acquiring Icelandic citizenship were markedly higher than in the 1990s standing at 703 in 2016.
Icelandic identity is gradually shifting towards a more multicultural form. Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson plays with Retro Stefson and represents a prominent Icelander with a foreign background. This demographic shift contrasts sharply with historical patterns where Icelanders emigrated to places like Gimli in Manitoba Canada which remains home to the largest concentration of Icelanders outside the main island.
Iceland embraced Christianity around 1000 in what is called the kristnitaka. While mostly secular in observance today the country remains predominantly Christian culturally. The Lutheran church claims some 84% of the total population. Early Icelandic Christianity was more lax in its observances than traditional Catholicism before Pietism arrived from Denmark in the 18th century.
Pietism had a marked effect on the island by discouraging all but religious leisure activities. It fostered a certain dourness that became an Icelandic stereotype for a long time. At the same time it led to a boom in printing making Iceland one of the most literate societies in the world. Perhaps unique to Iceland is the fast-growing Ásatrúarfélag representing a legally recognized revival of the pre-Christian Nordic religion of the original settlers. There are also small Protestant Free Churches, Catholic communities, and even a nascent Muslim community composed of both immigrants and local converts.
Common questions
Who was the first Viking to sight Iceland and when did he arrive?
Gardar Svavarsson was the first Viking to sight Iceland after going off course due to harsh conditions while sailing from Norway to the Faroe Islands. His reports led to the first efforts to settle the island in the 9th century.
When did Ingólfur Arnarson become the first permanent settler of Iceland?
Ingólfur Arnarson settled with his family around 874 at a place he called Bay of Smokes which is now known as Reykjavík. He arrived following Flóki Vilgerðarson who named the island Ísland in the 9th century.
What percentage of Icelandic maternal ancestry derives from Ireland and Scotland?
Genetic evidence suggests that approximately 62% of the Icelandic maternal gene pool is derived from Ireland and Scotland. The Irish and Scottish Gaels were either slaves or servants of the Norse chiefs according to the Icelandic sagas.
When was the Alþingi established and what happened to it in 1798?
The chieftains met on the Þingvellir plain near Reykjavík in 930 to establish the Alþingi as Iceland's first national parliament. In 1798 the Alþingi was discontinued for several decades before being restored in 1844.
On what date did Iceland become a republic and end ties with Denmark?
On the 17th of June 1944 the monarchy was abolished and a republic was established on Jón Sigurðsson's 133rd birthday. This event ended nearly six centuries of ties with Denmark after Iceland gained full sovereignty in 1918.