57
votes
Was the flag of Iceland originally fimbriated in silver?
Silver means white.
The art and science of classic European flag design is called "Heraldry". Classic heraldry refers to color as "Tincture". Tinctures are separated into 5 colors:
Azure (blue)
...
- 1,131
23
votes
What kind of ink was used by medieval scribes in Iceland, given that there were no plant galls for iron-gall ink?
That's a really good question. As far as I know, there isn't yet a definitive answer, although I haven't kept fully up to date with the subject in recent years..
In Care and Conservation of ...
- 77.2k
13
votes
Was the flag of Iceland originally fimbriated in silver?
No.
The Icelandic flag never had any actual silver colour in it and was never meant to contain any silver.
In the quote argent is meant to convey just white. It is used in an outdated and imprecise ...
- 80.7k
10
votes
Did the early Christian community on Iceland require the import of wine for liturgy?
Short answer
Wine was imported but was often scarce and always expensive. It was a liturgical requirement, but it was not one that was always (or even often) met without bending the rules a little.
...
- 108k
9
votes
Has Britain's 1940 invasion of Iceland been downplayed by historians?
As a person who has lived in Iceland and Finland, and talked in great detail with people alive at the time, I can tell you that the British set up machine gun emplacements before dawn in Reykjavik. ...
- 91
8
votes
Was rape common in Europe during the Middle Ages?
The only honest answer to this question is We don't know.
To state that rape, or any crime, or any activity, was more or less prevalent at one period of time than another requires written records to ...
- 710
8
votes
Were there natives In Iceland prior to the Irish monk's landings?
To my knowledge (though please correct me if I'm wrong) there is no extant historical account of the first Norse settlers in Iceland encountering any previously settled peoples. Quite the opposite ...
- 789
7
votes
Accepted
What was Iceland officially & commonly called before 1918 (1874~)?
There is no significant difference between English/Icelandic/Latin naming (In Latin it's Islandia).
We can read here that: "Oldest among the maps on which Iceland is shown is the Anglo-Saxon map, ...
- 2,364
6
votes
Giving a child to Thor
The practice seem more or less untestified outside the Eyrbyggja saga. The saga deals with religious matters to an unusual degree, and is in fact one of the more importantsources for religious ...
- 5,623
6
votes
Accepted
Were there natives In Iceland prior to the Irish monk's landings?
In 1976 Tim Severin proved with the Brendan Voyage it was possible for Irish monks not only to go to Iceland, but all the way to the Americas. He did have a couple of advantages the ancients didn't ...
- 22.5k
5
votes
Was rape common in Europe during the Middle Ages?
Literary Sources are Unreliable, Legal Sources are Unreliable, Legal Records are Unreliable.
Let's start with literary sources. If rape shows up a lot in literary sources, it could mean that it's ...
- 1,815
5
votes
Accepted
Did medieval Icelanders write with runes?
Runes are primarily designed for being carved in wood (which is why there are so many vertical, straight lines, but no horizontal lines and very few curved ones). Wood does not survive very well, but ...
- 5,623
4
votes
Did Naddodd really discover Iceland?
The better question to ask would have been 'Who discovered Iceland?'. In this case, where we have to think about Pytheas, I would argue for 'No', while my answer regarding Naddoðr would be the same. ...
- 10.8k
2
votes
Were there natives In Iceland prior to the Irish monk's landings?
Farley Mowat thinks so:
Mowat believes that settlement of Iceland began early in the first
millennium AD. After the end of Roman rule in Britain, unrest and
military threats to Alba from the ...
- 2,700
2
votes
Was rape common in Europe during the Middle Ages?
I wanted to comment on your question, and though my reputation is great enough to answer, it is not great enough to comment (allowing me to foolishly answer, but only wisely comment, hmm?).
The ...
1
vote
Why did nucleated communities never form in medieval Iceland?
Firstly, agriculture (at least not plant-based farming) was not as viable in Iceland as in most of Europe, this is because of two reasons. The first is that Iceland is cold, with even summer ...
1
vote
Did the early Christian community on Iceland require the import of wine for liturgy?
The Church has always required that the matter for transubstantiation be wine made from grapes. This has be codified under:
Can. 924
§1. The most holy eucharistic sacrifice must be offered with ...
- 2,357
1
vote
Were there natives In Iceland prior to the Irish monk's landings?
I feel that it is necessary to separately answer this part of the original question, as it actually ties in with the original question in a profound way:
I would also like to include that island ...
- 111
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