Iceland

ICELAND

It was happening at the opening of the Viking Age about 750 A.D., when the first Viking raids were launched on Ireland. The raids were followed a few
decades later by the gradual settlement of the Norse in Ireland, a period marked by steadily increasing interaction and mutual influence among the people of these two northern realms.

The Irish, great seafarers like the Norse, had earlier discovered Iceland. Commencing in the 870's---that is, some 75 years after the first Viking raids on Ireland---the Norse and Irish together, somehow patching up their differences---began to settle in Iceland. It was there in this remote Arctic place, 'the island of ice and fire,' that the celebrated Icelandic sagas were subsequently to be created. These works, embodying important aspects of three northern realms---Iceland, Ireland and Norway.

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