The Vikings: Pioneers in the Land of Ice

The Vikings sailed to Iceland not as raiders but as settlers. They sought farmland and goods with which to trade. For the land-hungry Norwegians, the call to the new country, where vast stretches of real estate were open for the taking, must have seemed every bit as alluring as any treasure. As added inducements to emigration, Norway's King Harald Fairhair was consolidating his power with a strong hand, and, in the words of an Icelandic saga, "He made everyone do one thing or the other: become retainers or quit the country." Here, in this essay, is the dramatic story of how the Vikings came to dominate and populate Iceland.