It is well known that Viking explorers used the sun and stars to navigate across open seas, but what did they do when the sun and stars weren’t visible? For centuries legends have told of various tools that Vikings used to help navigate, among them the fabled Sunstone. Now, researchers believe they have finally found one of these stones. 

Until recently, nothing was found among Viking artifacts that matched descriptions from the sagas. However, researchers now believe the mythical sunstone was a calcite-like crystal known as Iceland spar. After extensive tests, researchers now believe that this crystal can be used as an incredibly accurate navigational aid.

Fragments of Iceland spar were first found, or first recognized, in Icelandic Viking settlements only last year.

(Source: independent.co.uk)

Vikings made some of the most impressive sea voyages of their era, and all without the aid of compasses, charts, maps or any other navigational tool. Instead, Viking explorers used landmarks, stars, sea animals and their own memories to navigate.

Vikings were incredibly familiar with weather patterns and the migration paths of various animals, such as sea birds and whales. Explorers sometimes waited weeks for the perfect weather to set out on an expedition. For all their skills, however, Viking navigation was far from accurate, and several discoveries were made entirely on accident. The discovery of North America, for example. 

The Norns of Norse Mythology are female spirits that dictate the fate of men and gods alike.

Three chief norns are listed in the sagas, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who dwell in Asgard close to Yggdrasil. However, the sagas also describe that additional norns come to each child when it is born and shape their future. The norns are described at least once as weaving “the web of fate”, and it is believed by some that the name “norn” comes from the verb “to twine”.

The idea of three women who weave fate is paralleled in Greek, Roman, and Slavic mythologies.

[Picture: Three norns seated beneath Yggdrasil. Ludwig Burger, 1882]

Jon Arason was the last Catholic bishop of Iceland before the Protestant reformation, and later rose to become a sort of national folk hero.

Jon is best known for his fierce resistance to the Protestant reformation of Iceland. His work was directly counter to the wishes of King Christian III of Denmark, a Lutheran and proponent of the reformation. Despite this, Jon joined forces with another bishop, Ogmund, and attacked the Lutherans in 1548, setting off a civil war. In 1550 Jon, and two of his illegitimate sons, were executed by beheading.

Jon Arason is also a well known poet and was the first to introduce printing to Iceland.

[Picture: Statue of Bishop Jon Arason in Munkaþverá, Iceland.]

(Source: 1911encyclopedia.org)

The Lagarfljót Worm is a cryptid, an animal unrecognized by science, alleged to live in Iceland’s Lagarfljót lake.

The first mentions of the creature date back to 1345 and it has been sited numerous times since then. Legend says that the worm was originally a small lingworm. A girl placed the worm on a gold ring, hoping that the ring would grow. When she returned and found that instead the worm had grown, she threw both into the lake. 

[Picture: Artist’s interpretation of the worm from the television show Destination Truth.]

Iceland gained independence from the Kingdom of Denmark in 1944 following the end of WWII and the Danish-Icelandic Act of Union.

The Act of Union was signed in 1918 and recognized Iceland as a sovereign state in a personal union with Denmark for 25 years. When it expired in 1943 Icelanders voted in favor of ending the union and adopting a new republican constitution. On June 17, 1944 Sveinn Bjornsson was elected the first president of the Republic of Iceland.

The first archaeological dig of the year in Iceland began today. At Hafnir in Reykjanes, southwest Iceland, archaeologist have returned to the site of a hut that may date to 770-880 CE. If accurate, this would date before the first known Viking settlement in 874 CE.

Excavations at this site, given the name Vogur, have been intermittent since 2003. The proposed date of the site was revealed last summer after carbon dating. No other structures have been found in the area.

Reykjavik is the northernmost capitol of any sovereign state. The city is believed to also be the location of the first permanent settlements on Iceland. The settlement is said to have been founded by Ingolfr Arnarson around 870CE. 

The name Reykjavik loosely translates to “smoke cove”, thought to have been inspired by the numerous hot springs in the area.

Although the Treaty of Kiel officially recognized Greenland as a part of Norway handed over to Sweden in 1814, this was never acted upon and Greenland remained under Danish rule.

In 1940, when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, Greenland’s connection with Denmark was severed. In 1941 the United States occupied Greenland, along with Iceland, in order to prevent German invasion, as neither Iceland nor Greenland have standing armies. This occupation lasted until 1945. Home rule was granted in 1979, though Greenland remains a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Great Geysir in Iceland was the first geyser ever described in a printed source, and the first known to modern Europe. It’s highest recorded eruption was in 1845, at which it reached a height of 170 meters. It is from Geysir that English gets the word “geyser”, one of very few loan words from Icelandic. 

The Old Covenant is the common name for the agreement which officially put Iceland under Norwegian rule. In 1262-1264 the chieftains of Iceland made an agreement with Haakon IV of Norway and his son Magnus which unified the lands of Iceland and Norway. 

This lead to Iceland coming under the rule of Denmark during the Kalmar Union (1380) and later under Denmark-Norway (1536). When Norway was ceded to Sweden in 1814 Iceland remained under Danish rule.

The University of Iceland was established in 1911 when an already established seminary, school of medicine, and school of law merged into one. For years the university was housed in the Icelandic Parliament building in central Rekjavik.

In 1933 it received funding to build its own campus, and the university moved to its current location on the outskirts of Rekjavik in 1940. Today, after a restructuring in 2008, the school boasts five schools, divided into 25 faculties, and a number of research institutes. 

Lakigigar is a volcanic fissure in southern Iceland responsible for the worst volcanic eruption in the country’s history.

On 8 June 1783 the fissure opened with explosive eruptions caused by interaction of groundwater with the rising magma, producing over 130 craters. The fissure continued to erupt for the next eight months, finally ceasing on 7 February 1784. This period of eruption is now often referred to as Skaftáreldar (“Fires of the Skafta River”). At its peak, the ash cloud may have reached as far as China. 

When eruptions finally ceased the gasses and ash produced had already killed a large portion of the population, and an estimated 25% more died in the famine that followed. The lava flows cover 0.5% of Iceland’s land area.

The Norden Association, founded in 1919, exists to promote cooperation between the Nordic countries. They were also instrumental in helping to establish the Nordic Council in 1952. Norden is a non-profit, non-political organization.

During WWII Norden was one of the first groups to organize the collection and distribution of relief funds to Finland. Today, the association organizes trips, seminars, exhibitions and events to promote learning and cooperation between the countries. 

[Image: WWII propaganda poster reading “Help Finnish children. Send your grant to the Norden Association”]

(Source: norden.se)