Njals Saga

Norwegian families settled in Iceland in the late 9th and 10th centuries. Iceland was uninhabited at the time, except for a few Irish monks who made their way to the island to live as hermits. The first Norwegian who arrived in Iceland around 860 was Hrafba-Floki (known simply as Floki) Vilgerdarson, who landed in the west fjords after navigating around much of the island. Several Swedish sailors had also circled Iceland before this, but they had not made landfall. Floki gave the island its name and returned to Norway after spending two winters there; he didn’t have many positive things to say about Iceland. True settlers came to Iceland circa 874 from Norway, and scholars estimate that around 30,000 people colonized the land over the next six decades.

This phase of early colonization is called the “Age of Settlement.” It concludes with the founding of the Althing (Iceland’s parliament) in 930. The extant Landnámabók (Book of Settlements) supplies details about these early colonists and their lives, including some of the individuals mentioned in Njal’s Saga who are descended from the first settlers. Those settlers fled the oppressive rule of the Norwegian monarch, Harald Fairhair, who consolidated power in Norway circa 885 when he subdued regional chieftains under his rule.