io8 : The Atlantic 



tion of a conversation with one of the monks who had made the 

 trip. They remained in Iceland from February to August. He de- 

 scribes the mountainous character of the country and says that at 

 the time of the summer solstice there was continuous daylight; where 

 they were the sun hardly set at all. He said that it was so light, even 

 at midnight, you could see well enough to pick lice off your shirt. 



About the same time, the Scandinavians were extending their op- 

 erations, which included colonizing the Faeroe Islands. By 860 they 

 also had reached Iceland. There were apparently a number of expe- 

 ditions that were referred to in tradition, and when we come to the 

 written record credit seems to be divided. One of the earliest of the 

 Icelandic sagas is the Landnamabok which describes the colonization 

 of Iceland and the way in which its land came to be occupied by the 

 different chiefs and their families. According to this saga, a Swede 

 named Gardar, accompanied by a few dependents and servants, made 

 the trip to Iceland in 860. He built a house or shelter there and there- 

 fore referred to the place where he spent his time as Husavik. At the 

 same time a Norwegian named Naddodd is also reported to have 

 made the trip to Iceland, and called it Snowland. 



In 865, Raven-Floki, accompanied by Herjolf and Thorolf, made 

 the first attempt on the part of the Norwegians to colonize Iceland. 

 It appears that they were entranced by the great numbers of fish in 

 the streams and the sea and all hands spent their time fishing. Like 

 many other fishermen before and since, they neglected their duties 

 ashore. They forgot to raise and harvest crops for themselves and 

 their cattle. Their attempted colonization was not a great success 

 and when they returned to Norway, as not infrequently happens 

 among travelers, they disagreed. Their opinions on Iceland ranged 

 from that of believing it was a wonderful country for colonization, 

 little short of an earthly paradise, to that of holding that it was a very 

 poor country, hardly able to sustain life. 



The opinion that it was a good country seems to have won out, for 

 presently a large expedition set out from Norway to establish a col- 

 ony on Iceland. The official date for this settlement is given as 874 

 but Professor Hermannsson of Cornell, a leading Icelandic scholar of 

 today, believes the date to have been several years earlier. 



There are two rather interesting quirks to this important bit of 

 history. One has to do with the name, which has been so misleading 

 to people throughout history. Actually, Iceland has a rather mild cli- 

 mate. The major part of the island enjoys an open and warm winter, 

 and the ports and shores are free of ice throughout the year. Moun- 



