Alternative History
Englebrog
Ethelred the Pious

Category
- False Dmitri -


The very name suggests remoteness and purity: Iceland. But medieval Iceland in this timeline was a raucous place with close ties to every part of the Nordic world. In the Ninth Century some settlers came from pagan Norway; in the Tenth many came from Christianizing parts of England and Ireland; and in the Eleventh new arrivals came from the Muslim Norse communities of northern Spain.

Initial settlement[]

Norse settlers began to transplant to Iceland in the 870s, but by 900 Iceland was still a very empty place. Scandinavians seeking farmland found it in England and didn't need to brave the cold of Iceland. By the 950s or 60s, however, some Anglo-Norse were making the trip northward in greater numbers. By the late 900s, Iceland was no homogenous island of Norwegians living a tribal existence: it was a polyglot island that included Gaels and some Saxons alongside the Anglo-Norse. Many of the newcomers were Christians, and some missionary priests, both Irish and English, accompanied them hoping to win converts among Iceland's pagan majority.

The Icelandic chieftains made efforts to create a governing council, an Althing, in the 970s. But the council failed to put a stop to their constant feuding. Meetings of the chieftains frequently collapsed into brawling, and after a particularly violent confrontation in 992, the council did not meet again. By 1000, Icelandic society still had no unifying structures. Its society was defined by independent chiefdoms and petty wars.

Arrival of the Nawari[]

In the Eleventh Century, fishermen began arriving from Nawar, a Basque emirate ruled by a Norse elite. Nawar's fishing and maritime trade were going through a period of expansion, enriched by the seafaring cultures of both its natives and its rulers. The Nawari brought a new religion, Islam, to Iceland. Some even began to make converts. A third religion was enough of a change to Icelandic society that it realigned many of the old, intractable factions. The island finally achieved the old dream of a peaceful, lasting Althing in 1040. Islam continued spread in Iceland over the rest of the century, but the island remained a mix of Muslim, Christian and pagan.

The existence of a permanent Althing brought a structure to Icelandic society, but the island remained divided. The lands of the various chiefdoms became more fixed, but each remained essentially independent, with the council serving mainly as a way to arbitrate their disagreements. And religious conflict certainly did not end. Sometimes it was the monotheistic Christians and Muslims against the pagans, sometimes the icon-loving pagans and Christians against the iconoclastic Muslims. They competed for converts and holy sites and votes in the Althing.

The English Pagans and the Widlanders[]

Another new population came beginning in the 1130s: English pagans fleeing the repression of their religion under King Woldemar III. The bulk of the emigrants stopped only briefly in Iceland before moving on to Widland, but enough stayed to give the pagan element of the island a boost.

The rapid growth that these migrants created in the Widlandish settlements fueled the North Atlantic trade. Iceland became the midpoint where traders from Widland and from Europe traded with one another. This not only changed the Icelandic economy, it also brought a steady stream of ideas and cultures. It also affected the country's politics. Mercantile interests began to have a stronger voice in the Althing starting around the mid-twelfth century.