Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com – Most scholars say Iceland was discovered by Norse people who created the first settlement on the island around 870–930. The island was not populated until the Viking Age. The problem with researching Iceland’s ancient history is the lack of written sources.
The oldest written document is the Íslendingabók (The Book of the Icelanders), written about 1130. Another interesting source dated to the 12th century is Landnámabók (The Book of Settlements).
The Icelandic Book of Settlements states Norwegian Ingólfr Arnarson was the first permanent settler who reached the island in 874. He built a home for himself and his wife, Hallveig Fródadóttir, at a site named Reykjavík. He worked as a farmer when more than 400 settlers sailed to Iceland with their families, servants, and enslaved people to claim part of the land. Most of the settlers came from Norway, but some came from other Nordic countries and the Norse Viking Age settlements in the British Isles.
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