Reykjavik - Walk through the Past

WALK THROUGH THE PAST Explore the Settlement of Reykjavík

Travel back in time with us on an exciting journey around central Reykjavík and discover some of Iceland’s most important treasures. Prepare to leap back one thousand years to explore seven priceless historical and cultural artefacts while you enjoy walking around the city as it is today.

Our path takes us between three interesting museums that hold the key to Iceland’s history: the Culture House, the Settlement Exhibition and the National Museum of Iceland.

The Place Name Reykjavík The place-name Reykjavík is found in the earliest Icelandic written sources. In the oldest narrative about the 9th-century settlement of Iceland (the medieval Landnámabók, ‘The Book of Settlement’), a man called Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have been Iceland’s first permanent settler. Landnámabók states: As soon as Ingólfur caught his first glimpse of Iceland he threw his high seat pillars overboard, hoping for a good omen, and declared he‘d settle wherever the pillars happened to be washed ashore. […] his high seat pillars were found at Arnarhill, west of the moor. […] He made his home at the spot where his high seat pillars had been washed ashore, and lived at Reykjavík.

The place-name, which means ‘smoky bay’, is a descriptive one.

It refers to steam that rose like smoke from hot springs in the area.

Geothermal activity in the greater Reykjavík district is put to good use today, heating the many outdoor swimming pools that the people of Reykjavík frequent all year round.

1. The Culture House 2. Arnarhóll 3. The Settlement Exhibition 4. The National Museum of Iceland

THE CULTURE HOUSE Iceland’s most precious treasures are not gold or jewels but books.

At the Culture House, you will see some of Iceland’s most famous medieval manuscripts. Many of these are on UNESCO’s ‘Memory of the World’ Register. Each manuscript is unique. They contain literary and historical texts, mythological works, laws, and other material. The manuscripts are an invaluable source of information for understanding the society, religion and world view of people in Northern Europe in the last centuries of the first millennium.

Codex Regius – the Poetic Edda Humble in appearance, the Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda is the most famous of all Icelandic books. It contains the oldest and most important collection of ‘eddic’ poems preserved. Noone knows who first put these poems down on parchment but this vellum (calf-skin) manuscript was written around 1270 A.D. and must have been based on older manuscripts that are now lost. In the first part of the manuscript, we read poems about the pre-Christian gods and goddesses of Northern Europe and their exploits. In the latter part, poems feature ancient heroes such as Sigurðr, slayer of the dragon Fáfnir, and the fierce Guðrún Gjúkadóttir.

The Saga of Njáll Njáls saga is the best known and longest of the Icelandic sagas.

The saga’s heroes, the couples Gunnarr and Hallgerðr, Njáll and Bergþóra, along with a multitude of other characters, are still well-known to the Icelandic people. The manuscript on display in the Culture House is the oldest manuscript preserved of Njáls saga. Dating from around 1300, it is thought to have been written only 25 years or so after the story was first put down on parchment late in the 13th century.

The Place Name Arnarhóll At the top of Arnarhóll hill, you will find a statue of Iceland’s first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson. This is a good place to contemplate the fact that Iceland’s capital happens to be built on the very place chosen by the first settlers for their permanent home. It wasn´t until one thousand years later though that a town began to grow up here, besides the lake where the first settlers are thought to have raised their farm. This farm is our next stop.

THE SETTLEMENT EXHIBITION The exhibition ‘Reykjavík 871±2’ is based on archaeological excavations of one of the first houses in Iceland. Digital technology is used to give an impression of what life was like in Reykjavík over one thousand years ago. Was it really Ingólfur’s high seat pillars that determined the place of settlement, or rather the natural resources available here – springs, forest, animals? Did the first settlers find walruses and great auks along the sea-shore?

The Longhouse In 2001, archaeological remains were excavated on Aðalstræti.

The finds included a 10th-century longhouse, now preserved at its original location. The house is, for the most part, a typical Viking hall. But there is an unusually large fireplace in the centre of the hall, the largest found in Iceland. Why was this fireplace such an important feature of the building? Was it the ‘centrepiece’ of its time, a display of superior style?

Viking-Hall The settlers were good craftsmen. Aspects of the construction of the Viking Age buildings are illustrated via multimedia displays: we can look into this particular house and build up an idea of how life in it was organised.

The National Museum of Iceland This museum presents Iceland’s cultural heritage from the time of the nation’s earliest settlement to the modern day. Guests can stroll through Iceland’s history as communicated by a great number of remarkable artefacts. We will focus on two of the oldest objects in the collection.

The Statuette of Thor

This bronze statuette is one of Iceland’s best-known ancient relics, dating to around 1000 A.D. It is believed to depict Thor, one of the major pre-Christian Norse gods, holding his might hammer Mjölnir. Some think the figure could just as well be Christ on his throne of majesty, as the object resembles the Christian cross in shape. What do you think?

The Valþjófsstaður Door This church door is the only carved door preserved from medieval times in Iceland; it is therefore one of the highlights of the National Museum’s collection. It dates to around 1200 A.D. and was in use in the church at Valþjófssstaðir (in the east of Iceland) until 1851.

Its complex and beautiful decoration is in Romanesque style. The upper roundel depicts the well-known medieval tale of a knight saving a lion from the claws of a dragon. Four interlaced dragons fill the lower roundel. How are the images to be interpreted?

Pagan Graves

Fíton / SÍA

Around 320 pre-Christian graves have been found across Iceland.

Most of the first settlers were pagan. Their graves suggest that both men and women believed in life after death. Some were buried with weapons, jewellery, or other personal belongings such as combs. Others were buried with a boat or a horse to aid their on-ward journey in the afterlife. This is where our short journey to the world of Iceland’s first settlers ends, however. Next: explore all that 21st-century Reykajvík has to offer!

Prices 2012

Reykjavík Welcome Card

24 hrs. card: ISK 2.400 48 hrs. card: ISK 3.300 72 hrs. card: ISK 4.000

The card makes it easier for you to enjoy the best that the city has to offer. Available for 24, 48 or 72 hours and offering great value for money, the welcome card gives you free admission to all of Reykjavík’s thermal pools, a great many museums and other attractions, unlimited travel on the Reykjavík buses, discounts at shops and restaurants and free internet access. The card is sold at the Reykjavík Tourist Information Centre in Aðalstræti 2 and at most museums and hotels.

www.cityofliterature.is

The Settlement Exhibition Aðalstræti 16 Open daily from 11am-5pm

The Culture House Hverfisgata 15 Open daily from 11am-5pm

The National Museum of Iceland Suðurgata 41 Open daily from 10am-5pm