The Book of Settlements: Landnamabok

159 pp. Color photographs, fold-out maps. An English translation of the Landnamabok. Often shortened to Landnama, this is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement (landnam) of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. Landnamabok is divided into five parts and 102 chapters. The first part tells of how the island was found, and the first settlers that came to the land. The latter parts count settlers quarter by quarter, beginning with west and ending with south. It traces important events and family history into the 12th century: more than 3,000 people and 1,400 settlements are described. It tells where each settler settled and provides a brief genealogy of his or her descendants. Sometimes short anecdote-like stories are also included. Landnamabok lists 435 people (landnamsmenn, which includes men and women) as the initial settlers, the majority of them settling in the northern and southwestern parts of the island. It remains an invaluable source on both the history and genealogy of the Icelandic people. Some have suggested a single author, while others have believed it to have been put together when people met at things (assemblies).