Historical Dictionary of Iceland

Not having previously had anything but a regrettably hazy knowledge of Iceland, I was quite surprised to learn from this dictionary that the country was not settled until around ad 870. To the layman, the mention of Iceland will bring to mind either periodic fishing disputes, the issue of whaling, or, if of a more literary bent, the numerous ancient sagas. The settings of these often give the impression that Iceland’s history goes back a good deal further than the late ninth century, but in fact the sagas were not written until between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries. There...