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: