List of Viking Age Icelanders

List of Icelandic people who and people who lived in Iceland during the Viking Age (793–1066 AD).

List

• Naddodd (Old Norse: Naddoðr or Naddaðr, Icelandic: Naddoður, Faroese: Naddoddur, literally "studded") was a Norse-Faroese Viking who is credited with the discovery of Iceland.^[1][2]

• Erik the Red Erik Thorvaldsson (Old Norse: Eiríkr Þorvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003), known as Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr hinn rauði)^[3] was a Norse explorer, remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first settlement in Greenland. He lived in Iceland from around 960 to 982.^[4]

• Bjarni Herjólfsson (fl. 10th century) was a Norse-Icelandic explorer who is believed to be the first known European discoverer of the mainland of the Americas, which he sighted in 986.^[5]

• Steinunn Refsdóttir was a skaldic poetic active at the end of the 10th century.^[6]

• Egill Skallagrímsson (c. 904 – c. 995^[7]) was a Viking-Age poet, warrior and farmer.^[8] He is also the protagonist of the eponymous Egil's Saga. Egil's Saga historically narrates a period from approximately 850 to 1000 CE and is believed to have been written between 1220 and 1240 CE.

• Herjulf Bårdsson was an Icelander who became one of the early settlers of Greenland with Erik the Red.^[9]

• Þorvaldur víðförli (is) was a Christian missionary who was active in Iceland around 981. He came originally from Germany.^[10]

• Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson^[16] (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer from Iceland.^[17] He was the first known European to have discovered continental North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher Columbus.^[18][19] According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station.

• Freydís Eiríksdóttir. Daughter of Erik the Red who was a warrior and explorer who journey to Vinland.

• Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir was a Norse explorer, born at Laugarbrekka in Snæfellsnes, Iceland. She was the first European to give birth in North America.^[20]

• Thorfinn Karlsefni (Old Norse: Þorfinnr karlsefni Þórðarson, Icelandic: Þorfinnur karlsefni Þórðarson) was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010 AD, he followed Leif Eriksson's route to Vinland, in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Guðríður Víðförla Þorbjarnardóttir and their followers.^[21]

• Ingólfr Arnarson (spelled with a ⟨u⟩ in Modern Icelandic: Ingólfur Arnarson [ˈiŋkoulvʏr̥ ˈartnar̥sɔn]) and his wife, Hallveig Fróðadóttr and together with his brother Hjörleif, are commonly recognized as the first permanent Norse settlers of Iceland. According to tradition, they founded Reykjavík in 874.^[22]

• Ísleifur Gissurarson (1006 – 5 July 1080) clergyman and first bishop of Iceland.^[23]

• Sæmundur Sigfússon (or Sæmundur fróði) (Sæmundur the Learned) (1056–1133) was an Icelandic priest and scholar.^[24]

• Olaf Feilan (Olaf Feilan Thorsteinsson) (Old Norse: Óláfr "feilan" Þorsteinsson, Modern Icelandic: Ólafur "feilan" Þorsteinsson) (c. 890-940) was an Icelandic gothi of the Settlement period. He was the son of Thorstein the Red, jarl of Caithness, and his wife Thurid Eyvindsdottir.^[25]

• Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir is the main protagonist of the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga.

• Bolli Þorleiksson (also Bolli Thorleiksson) was a key historical character in the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, which recounts the history of the People of Laxárdalur.

• Snorri Thorfinnsson (Old Norse and Icelandic: Snorri Þorfinnsson or Snorri Karlsefnisson)^[26][27] probably born between 1004 and 1013, and died c. 1090) was the son of explorers Þorfinnur Karlsefni and Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir. He is considered to be the first white child to be born in the Americas, apart from Greenland. He became an important figure in the Christianisation of Iceland.^[28]

• Jón Ögmundsson or Ogmundarson (1052–23 April 1121), also known as John of Holar and Jon Helgi Ogmundarson, was an Icelandic bishop and local Icelandic saint.

• Gunnbjörn Ulfsson (c. 10th century), also Gunnbjörn Ulf-Krakuson, was a Norwegian settler in Iceland. He was reportedly the first European to sight Greenland. A number of modern place names in Greenland commemorates Gunnbjörn, most notably Gunnbjørn Fjeld.^[29]

• Vetrliði Sumarliðason was a 10th-century Icelandic skald.^[30]

• Vigfúss Víga-Glúmsson was an Icelandic skald, active around the year 1000. He was the son of Víga-Glúmr, the protagonist of Víga-Glúms saga. According to various sources, Vígfúss was the court poet of Hákon Sigurðarson, but only two verses of his poetry, preserved in Fagrskinna, have come down to us.^[31]

• Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld (Troublesome Poet) (c. 965 – c. 1007) was an Icelandic skald. He is the protagonist of Hallfreðar saga according to which he was the court poet first of Hákon Sigurðarson, then of Óláfr Tryggvason and finally of Eiríkr Hákonarson. A significant amount of poetry by Hallfreðr has been preserved, primarily in Hallfreðar saga and the kings' sagas but a few fragments are also quoted in Skáldskaparmál.^[32]

• Hjalti Skeggiason was an Icelandic chieftain who supported Gizurr the White for the introduction of Christianity in Iceland, on the Althing in 1000.

• Gunnlaugr Ormstunga (i.e. "Serpent-Tongue") was an Icelandic poet. His life is described in Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, where several of his poems are preserved.^[33]

• Eilífr Goðrúnarson was a late 10th-century skald, considered to be the author of the poem Þórsdrápa. He is also credited with Hákonar drápa jarls and a fragment remains of a poem with Christian allusions which is also believed to be his work. He was a court poet of Hákon the Powerful.

• Gissur Ísleifsson was an Icelandic clergyman, who, in 1082, became the second Catholic bishop of Iceland.

• Herjulf Bårdsson is one of the primary settlers in the History of Greenland. Before going to Greenland He lived in Iceland on Drepstokki.

• Þangbrandr was a missionary sent to Iceland by king of Norway Óláfr Tryggvason to convert the inhabitants to Christianity.

• Thorolf Skallagrímsson was an Icelander who features in Egil's Saga.

• Þorvaldr veili ("the Ailing") was an Icelandic skald who lived in the last part of the 10th century.

• Skapti Þóroddsson (died 1030) was an Icelandic lawspeaker and skald. He became lawspeaker in 1004, succeeding his uncle Grímr when the latter's voice failed him. He held office till his death in 1030, longer than anyone else. According to Íslendingabók he instituted judicial reform by establishing the "fifth court", a national court of appeals.

• Bersi Skáldtorfuson was an Icelandic skald, active around the year 1000.

• Arnórr jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls) (c. 1012 - 1070s) was an Icelandic skald, son of Þórðr Kolbeinsson.

• Þórðr Kolbeinsson father of Arnórr jarlaskáld.

• Geirmund the Noisy (died c. 978) was a Viking adventurer of the 10th century.

• Thorvald Asvaldsson father of Erik the Red.

• Snæbjörn Galti c. 910– c. 978) was the first Norseman to intentionally navigate to Greenland, doing so in 978 CE.^[34][35]

• Sigvatr Þórðarson (995-1045) was an Icelandic skald.

References