Ingolf & Iceland

The Landnámabók names Ingolf as the first person to permanently settle in Iceland,[32] as confirmed by Íslendingabók.[33] Ingolf’s journey, is given more detail in Landnámabók. He arrived from Norway at a place ‘now called’ Ingólfshöfði (Figure 7), 734 miles. His brother, Hjorleif, landed at Hjörleifshöfði (Figure 8), - 799 miles, where he died.[34] Ingolf travelled to bury his brother, suggesting both that his death was because of a lack of sacrifice, possibly to the gods, and because of a slave revolt. Interestingly, Ingolf’s own slaves, who found Hjorleif, ‘ran away’.[35] Ingolf then travelled to Eid and then to Dufthaksskor, to kill the slaves, and returned to Hjörleifshöfði. The following winter, he sailed back to Ingólfshöfði. Ingolf later travelled to Arnarhill (probably Arnarhóll),[36] and finally settled at Reykjavík.[37] The assumption has to be made about the exact locations of Eid and Dufthaksskor as being close to Hjörleifshöfði – they do not appear on modern maps. Therefore, from Ingólfshöfði through to Reykjavík (Figure 9) is 269 miles.[38] Ingolf probably travelled more than 1003 miles.