The Iceland year-book - 01.01.1926, Blaðsíða 7

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY.
The Uninvit- There is hardly a country saddled
ing Name. with a more uninviting name than
Iceland. It is a name suggestive of
a perpetual arctic winter and an unending expanse
of ice. How little this accords with the facts, will
become clear to those who read the following
pages — if they are not already aware of it. But
many readers will doubtlessly find themselves
asking the question: ,How was it that the country
came to be called by this chilly name?* ,An insigni-
ficant accident*, will he the reply. When the Nor-
wegian viking Floki VilgerSarson, after having
spent the winter 865—66 on the northern shore of
BreiSafjorSur, in the early spring climbed the
nearest mountain and spied northward, he looked
down into a fjord „full of polar ice“. For this
reason he called the land Iceland (Island). No
doubt Floki found a grim satisfaction in giving
the country an ill-sounding name, for he was in
a sour mood after having, through his own
negligence, lost all his cattle during the winter;
and after his return to Norway he did his best to
defame the newly discovered island, which, how-
ever, was destined to become his future home in
spite of his defamations.
Geo- After Great Britain Iceland is the largest
graphy. island in Europe. It lies in the North
Atlantic, between 63° 24' and 66° 32'
north latitude. — The area is about 105.000 square
1