Questions tagged [iceland]
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18 questions
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Why did nucleated communities never form in medieval Iceland?
The Icelandic language is surprisingly homogeneous compared to other regions settled by Norsemen. It is theorized that villages and isolated communities never form in Iceland, where there are only ...
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What was Iceland officially & commonly called before 1918 (1874~)?
In 1918, The Kingdom of Iceland was founded. In 1944, it changed to just Iceland.
I have researched about what Iceland was originally called, and apparently, it's first name was given to the person ...
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Have any palimpsests been found in medieval Icelandic (saga) literature?
Old Norse mythology and history are mostly known through Icelandic medieval parchements. Have those been found to include palimpsests, like medieval parchement in Europe has?
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Did the early Christian community on Iceland require the import of wine for liturgy?
Roman Catholic liturgy requires wine, which cannot be produced in Iceland. Did the Christianisation of early Norse settlers entail a need to constantly import wine as a result?
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Was the flag of Iceland originally fimbriated in silver?
The flag of Iceland, shown below, is described blazon as "Azure, a cross gules fimbriated argent", indicating that the fimbriation is silver. Argentum means silver in Latin.
Does this mean that ...
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3
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Did Naddodd really discover Iceland?
I searched who discovered Iceland? and it said: According to the Landnámabók, Naddod discovered Iceland but then a went to a few other websites that said Pytheas discovered Iceland... I'm confused, ...
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How were Icelandic bishops elected before the union with Norway?
By reading some basic texts (in English translation) (like Hungrvaka) I came to know that the bishops were elected on Iceland, and then had to make a journey to mainland Europe to be consecrated (...
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Giving a child to Thor
In Chapter 7 of Eyrbyggja saga we are told how Thorolf, the first gođi of Thorsness pledged his child to Thor:
Thorolf Most-beard married in his old age, and had to wife her who is called Unn; some ...
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16
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Kissing in early Icelandic law
I'm reading the Grágás laws of early Iceland and have come across a passage I don't understand:
K155, Ib p.47
"If a man kisses a woman in private, with no one else present and with her consent, then ...
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Were there natives In Iceland prior to the Irish monk's landings?
The Vikings discovered Iceland quite early on, in the late 800s, although 'Gaelic monks from Ireland had settled Iceland before that date'.
Unfortunately the date was never recorded. The Viking ...
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What kind of ink was used by medieval scribes in Iceland, given that there were no plant galls for iron-gall ink?
Iceland was deforested since early settlement, and possibly never had oaks. It has no gall wasps either.
I understand that Iceland was very isolated in medieval times.
So without oak galls, how did ...
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11
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Was rape common in Europe during the Middle Ages?
I recently read an article (in Norwegian) claiming that rape was much less common in the Middle Ages than what is commonly believed and, more specifically, that it was much less common than what is ...
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Why did Icelandic begin to diverge from the Continental north Germanic languages specifically between 1050 and 1350?
According to wikipedia:
Between 1050 and 1350 Icelandic began to develop independently from other Scandinavian and Germanic languages;
Why did it begin then? Iceland was being settled from 874.
...
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Did medieval Icelanders write with runes?
The land-taking of Iceland took place while Norse culture wrote short texts such as inscriptions using runes (during the transition from the Elder to the Younger Futhark). Runes are closely identified ...
user18968
6
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Did Søren Norby ever visit Iceland?
Søren Norby was the Seignor of Iceland 1515-1517. However, I can't find any information on whether he actually ever visited Iceland, had any actual powers in this role or if the position was a ...
- 14.9k
8
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What was the attitude of the other European countries in the 1970s Cod War?
In the 1970s Britain and Iceland came close to a shooting war in the so called Cod War.
Using these stats (admittedly from some decades later) as a guide, Norway, Denmark and Spain also have ...
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Has Britain's 1940 invasion of Iceland been downplayed by historians?
On the face of it Operation Fork (Britain's invasion of Iceland in 1940) wasn't so terribly different from Germany's territorial landgrabs in 1939 and 1940.
Britain and her allies will have ...
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21
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Why was Iceland not a part of the Danish-Swedish deal in Kiel in 1814?
In the Treaty of Kiel of 1814, Norway was essentially given from Denmark to Sweden as a "sorry we were on the other side", but Iceland was not a part of this deal at all. This is in spite of the fact ...
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