First Viking Settlement in Iceland
874 AD · Late Antiquity
Around 874 CE, Norwegian chieftain Ingolfur Arnarson established the first permanent Norse settlement in Iceland at Reykjavik, named for the geothermal steam rising from the land. The subsequent Age of Settlement (874-930) brought an estimated 10,000-20,000 Norse settlers, many fleeing the consolidation of power under King Harald Fairhair of Norway. These settlers established a pastoral society of independent farmsteads that culminated in the founding of the Althing parliament in 930.
Key Figures
Ingólfr ArnarsonHallveig FróðadóttirHjörleifr Hróðmarsson
Locations
ReykjavíkVestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands)
Topics
vikingingolfr arnarsonicelandViking Age
Connected Events — 2 Connections
Iceland's limited resources and Erik's exile from there motivated the Greenland expedition First Viking Settlement in Greenland by Erik the Red
Established the foundational population and settlement structure that enabled Iceland's parliamentary system - the Althing required stable communities and territorial organization that emerged from Ingólfr Arnarson's initial settlement patterns Althing Founded
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