Naddodd

Naddodd (Old Norse: Naddoðr [ˈnɑdːoðr] or Naddaðr [ˈnɑdːɑðr]; Icelandic: Naddoður [ˈnatːɔːðʏr̥]; Faroese: Naddoddur; fl. c. 9th century) was a Norse Viking who is credited with the discovery of Iceland.[1]

Naddodd
Bornlate 8th century
Kingdom of Agder
Diedafter 825
Faroe Islands
NationalityNorwegian (Norse)
OccupationExplorer
Known forDiscovering Iceland
ChildrenAnn Naddodsdóttir
Route of the Vikings
Faroe Postal Service, 15 March 1982

Biography

Naddodd was born in Agder in what is today southern Norway. He was one of the earliest settlers on the Faroe Islands after Grímur Kamban became the first to settle there around 825.[2]

Landnámabók, a medieval Icelandic manuscript, describes in considerable detail the settlement of Iceland (Icelandic: landnám) by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries. According to the Landnámabók, Iceland was discovered by Naddodd, who was sailing from Norway to the Faroe Islands, but got lost and drifted to the east coast of Iceland. Naddodd came upon the shore of a land with a bay and mountains near what is today the Icelandic town of Reyðarfjörður.[3]

Although he climbed a mountain to look for smoke rising from fireplaces, he saw no sign of human activity. Naddodd decided to continue his journey to the Faroe Islands, but as he returned to his boat, it started to snow, so he named the land Snowland (Snæland). The island was later known as Iceland (Ísland) following the settlement of Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson.[4][5]

Naddodd was the probable father of Ann Naddodsdóttir from Shetland. Naddodd has distant relations to Erik the Red and his son, Leif Erikson.[6]

See also

References
  1. Scott Michael Rank, Ph.D. "Viking Explorations and Settlements: Iceland, Greenland and Vinland". historyonthenet.com. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  2. "825 - Grímur Kamban arrived at Faroe islands". vikinghistorytales.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  3. "Reyðarfjörður". east.is. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  4. Kristin Axelsdottir. "The Discovery of Iceland". viking.no. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  5. Joshua J. Mark (21 January 2019). "The Legendary Settlement of Iceland". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  6. "Thorvald Asvaldsson | Mediander | Connects". Mediander. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2015-10-27.

Further reading
  • John Haywood (2016). Northmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793–1241. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-250-10615-5.
  • O'Donoghue, Heather (2004). Old Norse-Icelandic literature: a short introduction. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-470-77683-4.
  • Byock, Jesse (1988). Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas and Power. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520069541.


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