The History of Iceland

Please login to bookmark

No account yet? Register

Sike, I lied. I loved how this article came out.

Iceland is a small country with a long and interesting history. Even though it only has 350,000 citizens, it is still a good country to talk about.

Iceland is known for its breathtaking landscapes and really great safety measures. However, the past was also interesting.

Iceland’s beginnings date back to the Viking Age, in which Norwegian explorers found out about Iceland and colonized it.

The reason why Iceland and Greenland’s country names are swapped is that when Erik The Red, a Viking explorer, found Greenland, they went onto the coast, which is green compared to the rest of the “country” (saying like this, since Greenland is currently a Danish Territory) that is covered in a lot of ice.

Iceland was called Iceland due to the fact that there are glaciers in Iceland. However, These Glaciers only cover 3% of the country.

The Norwegian Vikings just stayed there, built a few towns, farmed, raised their kids, and settled in Iceland. Nothing special was happening during the Icelandic Viking Age.

Later, in 950AD, a government was created to help the Icelanders. This government happened between 950 and 1262 before the Kalmar Union. These years were really good for Iceland since it was a mostly remote area.

A few years later, a civil war broke out between different religious groups in Iceland. This included the converted Icelandic Christians against the ones who still believed in Norse Mythology. Most accepted to convert.

Today, most Icelanders are Christian. However, there are still people in Iceland who worship the Norse gods. These people are called Ásatrus and are qualified as an official religion called the Ásatru Alliance.

A few years after the war, Norway got control of Iceland. The commonwealth slowly died and became very limited. It was later given to Denmark during the Kalmar Union era.

While Iceland was occupied by the Kalmar Union, it was pretty chaotic. For those who don’t know, the Kalmar Union consisted of all Nordic countries and their territories (except Sápmi, which was once Independent) under one Christian union ruled by a queen.

Even though the Union was equal within countries, Denmark was the boss of all the other countries.

While Denmark took control of Iceland in the Kalmar Union, Denmark was like, “Yeah, I think nobody lives there,” and cut off imports to Iceland.

Icelanders now had to grow their own crops, and the land wasn’t great for farming. Because of this, over 35,000 Icelanders (which was one-fourth of the population) died due to Starvation.

Another 10,000 Icelanders died from natural disasters. From the early 17th century to the late 18th century, these years are known as Móðuharðindin (Mist Hardships).

Later, in the 1800s, something happened. A Danish guy named Jørgen Jørgensen lied about Iceland’s independence and called himself the president of Iceland. Well, let’s say that the Danish government did not have it, and they arrested him.

The Icelanders were as mad as the Danes. They did anything just to be independent. Anything peaceful, that is. They left Iceland and traveled to Canada (Finally a unique place). They also fought for independence using… Poetry. Yes, Poetry.

A few years later, the Danes and the Icelanders signed an agreement that meant Iceland would be self-governing but still under Danish rule. The Icelanders were chill with that… Until The World Wars.

Following the World Wars, Iceland was neutral in both since they’re a peaceful country. However, a huge economic problem caused other worries in Iceland.

25 Million Kronur (Icelandic dollars) were lost in exports, leading to even more deaths. However, there was a population increase since Icelandic Americans were going back after the war to seek refuge.