Did Danish Vikings discover Iceland?

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"According to Landnámabók, Iceland was discovered by Naddoddr, one of the first settlers on the Faroe Islands,"

Apparently it was discovered by Naddoddr who was Norwegian.

Good luck pronouncing the names!...Show more

Who actually discovered Iceland is very unclear. For a long time it was believed to be Norwegian Vikings even though there existed stories of earlier visitors.

However they were nearly exclusively visitors, the first known settlers were the Norwegians led by Ingólfur Arnarsson. A small island named Papey is though believed to have been settled by Irish monks called Papar centuries earlier.

Recently there were also found the remains of a cabin similiar in design to the long term cabins of Scandinavian vikings, but upon being age-analyzed were found to be at least 1300 years old; That is the cabin was deserted no later than around 750, more than 100 years before the first permanent settlers are supposed to have arrived.

Who these people were in still unclear but the cabin may as well have been built some decades before it was abandoned. There are even stories from the Hellenic period about the mystical country Thule which was though to be Iceland for a long time, although most scientist agree today that that theory has been debunked.

Personally with all the new evidence coming to light, and knowing the harsh climate of the country, which could have easily hidden or wiped out all evidence of humans residing there, it wouldn't surprise me if it was discovered that there had been earlier settlers than the Norwegians.

Regarding your question about the Danes; The countries(Denmark and Norway) are very close together and it is very possible that there were some Danes amongst the N-vikings, but they would have been a minority and didn't journey there themselves till some decades later....Show more

It where some monks who found Iceland
Than the Norwegian vikings scared them away...
Trust me, im from Iceland...Show more

I think it was the Norwegian Vikings originally, Danish contact was later...Show more

Well Ari Thorgilsson, who lived during the late 11th and early 12th centuries, claims that the Norse discovered monks from a Hiberno-Scottish mission (a mission led by Irish and Scottish monks) when they first arrived. He was chroniclling Iceland's history during his life time, so it's possible the Norse weren't the first....Show more