Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1963, Page 98

DR. TRYGGVI J. OLESON. F.R.S.C.:
Anglo-Saxon England And
lceland
As is well known Iceland was
settled between 870 and 930 chiefly
by emigrants from Norway. These
men were part of the great numbers
who left that country after 800 and
settled in the Hebrides, the Shet-
lands, the Orkneys and the Faroes,
as well as parts of Scotland and Ire-
land. Most of them remained per-
manently in these lands but a num-
ber of them or their descendants
joined after 870 the streams of mi-
grants to that volcanic and glacier-
studded outpost below the Arctic
circle which was now to be brought
into the orbit of European civiliza-
tion and somewhat later into that
of Christendom. Relations between
Scandinavia and Ireland, Scotland
and the Western Isles continued to
be close for several centuries and
after its settlement Iceland shared
in this intercourse. The Irish ele-
ment in the racial composition of
the Icelanders is very considerable
and no doubt this is true also in the
realm of the literature which was
produced in what is often called the
Saga Island. Much has been writ-
ten on this.1
Less well known is the extent of
relations between Iceland and An-
glo-Saxon England. These were no
doubt considerable. Nor is this
strange. Contacts between Anglo-
Saxon England and western Norway
antedate the settlement of Iceland
and some of the settlers or their
forbears had been wont to trade
with the Anglo-Saxons. One need
only cite the case of Þórólfr, the
uncle of Egill Skallagrímsson, who
carried on trade with England.
Snorri Sturluson tells us2 that Þór-
ólfr sent dried fish, hides, wadmal
and furs to England where he pur-
chased cloth and other goods, such
as, one may presume, wheat, honey,
woollen cloth, weapons, jewelry and
ornaments. In the tenth and eleventh
centuries Norway’s trade was chief-
ly with England. It is not therefore
surprising that the Icelanders should
trade with the Anglo-Saxons either
directly or through Norwegian mer-
chants, for the export wares of Ice-
land were to a great extent the same
if more limited than those of Nor-
way, that is to say fish, hides, pel-
tries and wadmal. They would wish
to import wheat and barley, honey,
fine cloth, weapons and ornaments.
The Icelandic sagas record many
voyages by Icelanders direct to Eng-
land and the visits of merchants
from England to Iceland. A few ex-
amples may be given. The saga of
Gísli Súrsson records three voyages
to England about the middle of the
tenth century and the names of at
least two of the merchants who
engaged in this trade.3 Kjartan