Ask me about Icelandic history

I was going to make this thread at some point, but I didn´t/ and couldn´t join the copy cat wave.

Now it´s maybe unfashionable but at least it will be more unique. I´ll be back in a few hours to answer your questions.:D
 
I was going to make this thread at some point, but I didn´t/ and couldn´t join the copy cat wave.

Now it´s maybe unfashionable but at least it will be more unique. I´ll be back in a few hours to answer your questions.:D

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Do you think Snorri Sturlusson looked like he does in this (probably speculative) painting ? Do you think he was fairly badass ?

Did any of the more wealthy or powerful godar build fortifications around their homesteads/settlements ? Did Iceland have any equivalent of castles or strongholds during the Middle Ages ? Did cavalry ever get used in Icelandic land battles and how did the military conscription of commoners to "lords" work ? Did Icelanders ever defend the island or their property in a naval battle ?

Is it true that manufacturing pottery was impossible on the island due to a shortage of material and that none of the settlements came even close to the definition of "town" in the medieval and early modern period ? Did ships owned by medieval Icelanders get manufactured abroad due to a domestic shortage of wood ?

What was the first aircraft to ever land on Iceland or by its shores ?
 
Was there before the Norses came in some peoples? Do we have hints of some small settlements of europeans or inuits? Without falling into crazy pseudohistory....
 
How's the education system in Iceland? An uncle of mine lives in Denmark (ooh, look at that Theo-dude, bragging about his relatives everywhere), and according to him quite some Icelanders go to Denmark for their higher education.
 
How are relations between Icelanders and people from Greenland since they both serve as Danish colonies?

Is global warming affecting Iceland? I mean do you think its gotten warmer there?
 
How did the Reformation go in Iceland? When did it start, was it well-received by the population, was there much resistance to it, etc?

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, how much contact was there between Iceland and other parts of Europe, especially places other than Denmark?
 
Do you think Snorri Sturlusson looked like he does in this (probably speculative) painting ? Do you think he was fairly badass ?

Did any of the more wealthy or powerful godar build fortifications around their homesteads/settlements ? Did Iceland have any equivalent of castles or strongholds during the Middle Ages ? Did cavalry ever get used in Icelandic land battles and how did the military conscription of commoners to "lords" work ? Did Icelanders ever defend the island or their property in a naval battle ?

Is it true that manufacturing pottery was impossible on the island due to a shortage of material and that none of the settlements came even close to the definition of "town" in the medieval and early modern period ? Did ships owned by medieval Icelanders get manufactured abroad due to a domestic shortage of wood ?

What was the first aircraft to ever land on Iceland or by its shores ?

1. Yeah, Snorri was definitely badass in my opinion, although I´ve read representations of him that represent him as a drunk. But to sum him up: He was not just the most powerful politician of his time (I´d say cunning too but he ended up killed so his marriage politics evens out). His literary achievements are amazing, not only almost everything we know about norse poetry and mythology comes from him, also history of Norway and possibly some of the best sagas. (It´s disputed but I´ve read decent arguments for him having written Egil´s saga f.x.)

2. No castles sadly. Not even fortifications. There was horsebackriding but not cavalry. Iceland would never have been able to resist an invasion on those terms and never had too. The Goðar did conscript people living in their land areas and in the civil war of the 13th century there were actual naval battles, although perhaps not very impressive ones. (Well, viking naval battles even on a small scale probably look cool, I´m assuming they were still using ships typical of that era). But no naval battles against foreign intrusion although in the coming centuries (14th/15th) there were many skirmishes with english sailors as well as the hanseatic league.

The Goðar didn´t officially own the land they had, they were merely the biggest landowner in the area, but people owed them favours and they collected taxes through the church. The civil war warriors seems to have been made up of volunteers although I´m pretty sure the Goðar could put pressure on those who didn´t want to join.

3. Yes, yes and yes. No proper pottery, shipbuilding had to be done abroad (the native trees not being suitable for the task).
As for the first airplane, 3d september 1919:

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What happened of note between 1900-1940? Handwave away WW2.

Biggest event is homerule in 1918 where we got defacto independence. (Although dejure we were still under the danish crown). Of course Denmark still managed our foreign affairs but apart from that their influence wasn´t more than Britain´s over Canada today.

1918 is also an interesting year for other reasons, spanish flu, really hard winter that brought record levels of polarbear intrusions.

The basis of our 4 party political system came about in the 1920s, two of the main parties (until the 1990s) were founded by the same guy Jónas Jónasson of Hrifla, who founded one centric farmer party and then a social democratic party for it to have a coalition partner. The voting system, ownership of the fisheries and independence were the main disputes of the day. The independence party that dominated Icelandic politics in the years to come was founded in 1929 to counter these two parties, and represent the conservative factions.

1900-1940 is often perceived as a very poor period in Iceland´s history but in fact Icelanders seem to have been very prosperous or at least growing a lot during the period. I also think that we have a lot of great paintings from that period as well as novels.

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How's the education system in Iceland? An uncle of mine lives in Denmark (ooh, look at that Theo-dude, bragging about his relatives everywhere), and according to him quite some Icelanders go to Denmark for their higher education.

It´s fine, although I have complaints about all levels of it. . (Who doesn´t generally want to radically change their homecountry´s educational system?)

Most Icelanders study at home, a lot go to Britain and US, but the most popular countries to study in (apart of course from Iceland) are the scandinavian ones. Denmark has a good icelandic population, and we have a deal with the danish government so essentially icelandic students have the same rights as the danish there.
 
Why is Iceland so Euroskeptic?

We recently got independence is one reason I think. Iceland has been stuck in the romantic period when it comes to talking about independence. There is generally a lot of suspicion towards foreigners, people don´t want them to buy land etc. Also, what matters a lot is that many worry that we´d have to share the fisheries, which would never be accepted. (They are the basis of our entire economy).
Icelanders were very positive about joining the EU right after the crash though until the Icesave debacle started and that coupling with the voes the Euro is going through makes the population very sceptical. I personally think we´ll never join the EU and I find that a bloody shame.

Was there before the Norses came in some peoples? Do we have hints of some small settlements of europeans or inuits? Without falling into crazy pseudohistory....

Not crazy pseudohistory but of course very debatable. There have been some crosses found that are considered to be older than the viking settlements. (Let´s keep in mind though the experts don´t agree on the excact dates, we teach schoolchildren and tourists that 870 is the settlement year but in reality it might be a few hundred years further back). But the main argument for a settlement before the norse come from the norse themselves, the sagas claim that there were irish monks on Iceland before they came, and whether there were towns, families or merely hermits is what we don´t know. All of it is plausible but things erode quickly in icelandic soil leaving us with very few clues.

How are relations between Icelanders and people from Greenland since they both serve as Danish colonies?

Is global warming affecting Iceland? I mean do you think its gotten warmer there?

Someone already mentioned Denmark and Iceland are no longer union. Greenland and Iceland have a good relationship. I remember when my father worked in Greenland (I was 12 and in the village of Sissimut over the summer with him) and then I discovered that Greenlanders have a bone pick with the danish but if you tell them you are icelandic they turn out to be much, much more friendly. There are a lot of Greenlanders that come to Iceland for medical reasons, and in my old hometown very often on my local pub I met drunk Greenlandic sailors. I don´t know what it amounts to in international relations, if Greenland was independent we´d be partners with them in a lot of things I´m pretty sure.

Global warming: Yes, I think I can feel the difference between now and back in the early 90s. Global warming feels very real in Iceland I´d say.
 
We recently got independence is one reason I think. Iceland has been stuck in the romantic period when it comes to talking about independence. There is generally a lot of suspicion towards foreigners, people don´t want them to buy land etc. Also, what matters a lot is that many worry that we´d have to share the fisheries, which would never be accepted. (They are the basis of our entire economy).
Icelanders were very positive about joining the EU right after the crash though until the Icesave debacle started and that coupling with the voes the Euro is going through makes the population very sceptical. I personally think we´ll never join the EU and I find that a bloody shame.

Is this why Icelandic is so wonderfully purist?

It's cool and all, but when you get words like félagsráðgjafardeildar, it gets kinda scary for a learner like me. :p

Gangi þér vel.;)

Þakka :)

I only know how to say a couple sentences, most of which are variants of, pardon my Danish, "Þú ert fokking tussa." The two non-dirty ones are "my name is Morgan" and "I am learning Icelandic."
 
Amazing post. Thank you. :)

On a related note, could the Icelandic Commonwealth's unique political structure be described as a feudal republic akin to a noble's republic, but with landowners filling in the roles instead ?

And did Basque fishermen really visit the island from time to time in the early modern era ?
 
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Not quite historical but what are some cultural differences between the US and Iceland.

They are big. Iceland and US share a lot of things, f.x. in the way that they are settler communities that have an idea of themselves as a classless society. Which may or may not be false. (I would say false in my opinion, but in the way people talk to each other and so on, it´s not a very rigorous society, unlike f.x. Japan, Britain and so on).

Icelanders love big jeeps generally. They have a very american mentality, most seem to believe they are about to make it big time, pride themselves in being individualistic and so on.

That being said Icelanders and Americans come from different backgrounds. Icelandic society despite a lot of rightwing rhethoric, (the biggest political party in Iceland imitates the republicans in a lot of ways) is based on the scandinavian socialdemocratic model. It´s a society that is very homogenous and despite a statechurch it is very unreligious. Like US there is a puritanical tradition in the past, a country that banned dancing and beer, but now it´s as liberal as a country can get. Iceland is in fierce competition with the rest of scandinavia in terms of liberality.

So I think you can compare Iceland and US in a lot but of course they aren´t directly linked. A lot of cultural influence from US is present in Iceland but also a lot of opposition. (Sort of like any European country). I know a quite few people that rant on and on about how american Icelanders have become but then I point out to them that this is the country where McDonalds went bankrupt twice, and to this day is Starbucks free.
 
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