The Book of Settlements: Landnámabók

University of Manitoba Icelandic Studies #1

by Hermann Pálsson (Translator), Paul Edwards (Translator)

Iceland was the last country in Europe to become inhabited, and we know more about the beginnings and early history of Icelandic society than we do of any other in the Old World. This world was vividly recounted in The Book of Settlements, first compiled by the first Icelandic historians in the thirteenth century. It describes in detail individuals’ daily life during the Icelandic Age of Settlement.

Genres: History, Medieval, Nonfiction, Classics

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the founding and settlement of Iceland by Scandinavian farmers, mostly from Norwegian extraction during the Icelandic Saga Age. The short chronicle like prose tells many of the stories that are preserved in the longer Icelandic Family Sagas but in a much more condensed form.

The English prose translation is excellent and is accompanied by a selection of full colour photos, but best of all, there's a good selection of fold out colour maps that chart the settlement of Iceland.

For anyone interested in the Icelandic Family Sagas, this is a must read.

[Clay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though there were many short tales throughout the book, The Book of Settlements: Landnamabok should be viewed primarily as a book of genealogies. My rating does not at all reflect the worth of this book. That is to say that I respect the immense value these ancient manuscripts hold for insight into Icelandic sagas and antiquity. Looking forward to reading more about Icelandic history with a book providing more commentary.

[Charles Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this book is incredibly fascinating, being an accounting of the first families of Iceland. Unfortunately, a vast majority of the 399 chapters are just naming off names and place names, with only a few more in-depth stories sprinkled about. On the whole very informative, but also not really the most entertaining read. Also will play havoc with people who don't like hundreds if not thousands of characters in their literature. Definitely something for medievalists and history fans, but not the average reader

[Vidar Alne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Landnåmabok er en fantastisk kilde til islandsk historie. Den er bevart i tre forskjellige middelalderhåndskrift. Versjonen jeg leste kalles Hauksbok og ble skrevet av lagmann Hauk Erlendsson tidlig på 1300-tallet. Verket tar for seg bosettingen av Island. På rundt 140 sider får vi høre hvor de 430 bosetterne kom fra og hvor de slo seg ned på øya.

Boka er ikke lettlest. Den består hovedsakelig av en rekke ættetall ispedd små historier. Men om man er interessert i norrøn tro og kultur vil man finne en del interessante opplysninger i verket. F.eks. om hellige fjell og renhetsforskrifter på Island:

"Torolv tok seg land frå Stava inn til Torså og kalla alt for Torsnes. Han hadde så stor tru på det fjellet som stod på neset, og som han kalla Helgafell, at det fekk ingen sjå uvaska; og det var så ukrenkeleg der at ingen, korkje folk eller fe, fekk gjera skade i fjellet utan sjølv å gå til grunne. Torolv og frendane hadde den trua at dei alle skulle døy i det fjellet. Der på neset, der Tord kom i land, hadde Torolv , hadde Torolv alle rettsskipnader, og der vart det sett heradsting i samråd med mennene i bygda. Og då folk var på tinget der, skulle ein for visst ikkje gjera si naudturft på land; til det var eit skjer som heiter Dritskjer avsett, for dei ville ikkje sulka til så heilag ein voll som det der var."

P.S.
Jeg leste ikke den engelske oversettelsen, men Jan Ragnar Haglands nynorske oversettelse fra 2002.

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are plenty of interesting vignettes sprinkled throughout the rather dull family trees and settlement records. Even the dull parts I didn't mind because the names are so fun: Asgeir the Easterners' Terror, Olvir the Child-Sparer, Yngvild Everyone's-Sister.

I liked the mentions of the Irish hermits who lived there first, as well as all the interesting family interactions, independent women, free-thinkers, etc. We got a whole page on Rollo (Ganger Rolf) and his siblings.

I'm also fascinated by the overall story-- as King Harald Fine-Hair takes over Norway, many of his enemies pull up stakes and settle in Iceland, which functions with no government for a long time.

[Laura Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

strangely fascinating, despite basically just being a list -- of all the original settlers in Iceland, described by the parcels of land they settled, starting in the West and going clockwise around the island.

[George Fowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ For a historical source that's pretty much just a list of people settling in a list of places, it's a surprisingly fun read.