MessageToEagle.com – It has long been argued that has long argued that the Celtic influence on the Icelandic language and culture is likely greater than previously thought.
Were Celtic settlers present among the Norse Vikings who lived on Seltjarnarnes peninsula, Iceland?
Mysterious, large circles in the landscape of Seltjarnarnes peninsula, near the Örfirisey, just east of Reykjavík, Iceland were not discovered until the 1980s.
No archaeological excavation has ever been conducted at the site and the circles are only visible from the air and only under special circumstances.
“No one had noticed this, including the old lady who lived here in Nesstofa all his life, in 70 years – when we spoke to her – she knew nothing of them,” says local engineering geologist, Þorgeir S. Helgason, who believes they could prove a Celtic and Irish presence among the Viking Age settlers of Iceland.
The circles could be ruins of Viking Age structures built by Irish settlers who arrive to Seltjarnarnes peninsula in the past.
The only academic studies which have been conducted at the site were performed by the National Museum in the late 1990s; they showed that the rings had been constructed shortly after the settlement layer of tephra fell.
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The “settlement layer” is a layer of tephra, produced by a volcanic eruption in the Torfajökull glacier area, dated to around the year in 871, a date which fits with the 874 date given for the settlement of Iceland according to the Sagas.
This indicates that the rings are remainders of structures built during the settlement of Iceland.
Numerous studies, including C14 radiocarbon dating has suggested that the settlement of Iceland began much earlier, perhaps as much as 100 before Ingólfur Arnarson arrived with his wife and his brother to Iceland.
of the old farm site. Photo/Þorgeir Helgason
They were the first permanent Norse settlers of Iceland and founded Reykjavík in 874, according to tradition of Landnámabók, the Book of Settlements.
There are many indications that Irish influence on Iceland is much greater that scientists previously believed.
According to Þorgeir S. Helgason, the rings are very unique in Icelandic landscape, however, they would be perfectly at home in the Irish landscape.
“In Ireland this building tradition remains dominant until at least 1200. People built boundary walls of these sizes, just like those we see here. But the actual structures, outhouses or dwellings, were inside the boundary walls.”
Ther are many places in Iceland that demonstrate Celtic roots, especially in South-West Iceland and the area around Faxaflói bay.
The rings point to a much stronger Celtic presence in the settlement of Iceland than it can be found in the Sagas, according to Þorgeir.
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