In which I give away a copy of Song of the Vikings
Over the last few weeks, the topic of Nancy Marie Brown's Song of the Vikings has come up once or twice here on the Margins. (Okay, more than once or twice.)
Some of you may have broken down and bought a copy. For those of you who haven't, I am pleased to announce that I have a copy to give away.
To throw your name in the middle-sized mixing bowl, just leave a comment here on the blog or send me an email and tell me:
1. Why you want to go to Iceland,*
2. What you liked best when you went to Iceland, OR
3. What fascinates you about the Vikings, or sagas
My Own True Love will draw a name on September 1. Not coincidentally, that's the day Brown's new book, Ivory Vikings, will be released. Vikings, chess, trade routes, luxury goods, and a tough broad or two. I can't wait to read it.
* If you want to be contrary, I suppose you could also tell me why you have no interest on going to Iceland or speculate on why Iceland is currently a hot destination
Road Trip Through History: 871 +/-2
In 2001, an Icelandic construction crew was excavating a basement for a new hotel in the historic district of Reykjavik when they made a major archaeological discovery which included not only the oldest relics of human habitation in the area, which date from before the "official" settlement day of 871CE, plus or minus a year or two*, but a complete tenth century long house. Today the site is displayed in its original location** as part of a small but spectacular multimedia museum. Ghostly videos of everyday scenes from Viking life play out across a panoramic display of the modern Icelandic landscape--not only a cool effect, but illuminating as well. Interactive exhibits show how a long house was built and used.
My takeaways?
- Long houses were a lot smaller than the sagas would lead you to believe. Roistering must have been done shoulder to shoulder. No wonder fights broke out so often. ***
- Tephro chronology: a form of archaeological dating that uses the relationship of finds to layers of volcanic ash. The layers of ash that are part of Iceland's soil have been tied to written accounts of historical eruptions and layers of ash recovered from the Greenland ice cap.**** One layer in particular is important for dating early sites in Iceland: a two-colored layer of ash dating from around 871 CE, known as the "settlement layer". Artifacts found below the settlement layer (like the bit of wall found in 2001) date from before the first known settlement of Iceland.
- Icelanders have mad museum building skills.
If you can only visit one museum in Iceland, the Settlement Exhibit at 871 +/-2 is the one to see.
* Hence the name of the museum
**Literally under the hotel.
*** I had a similar revelation at the much less interesting National Museum of Iceland, where the outline of a Viking ship on the floor made it clear just how small the dreaded dragon boats must have been. Not a ship I'd want to go to sea in.
****Evidently layers of ice can be dated like tree rings. Archaeology gets more fascinating all the time.
Road Trip Through History: Reykholt
In the thirteenth century, Reykholt was one of the three major estates controlled by Snorri Sturluson, poet, chieftain, and would-be king of Iceland. Reykholt was wealthy estate and luxurious by the standards of the time. Snorri literally built a house fit for a king, planning renovations inspired by the palace of the Norwegian king. His renovations including the expansion of a bathing pool fed by a nearby hot spring into the medieval equivalent of a hot tub.*
Snorri's hot tub at Reykholt
Reykholt was also the site where Snorri met a violent end in 1241 at the hands of men who supported Snorri's former sons-in-law against him in the struggle for the control of Iceland. Snorri received a warning that Gissur of Haukadale and Kolbein the Young were plotting against him; he doesn't seem to have cared. On September 22, Gissur's men entered Reykholt unopposed and broke into Snorri's sleeping quarters. The elderly poet jumped out of bed and ran into the neighboring building, unarmed and dressed only in a nightshirt. He took refuge in a cellar storeroom while Gissur's seventy men searched the house. When Gissur discovered Snorri's hiding place, he sent five of his men down into the cellar where they struck him down.
Today, little of Snorri's estate remains.** Reykholt is home to Snorristofa, a research institution devoted to promoting research into the Snorri, the sagas, and medieval Iceland. For those of us who have no need of their small, excellent library or their writers' cottage, the institute offers a well-designed exhibit of the major themes of Snorri's life: in many ways the cliff notes version of Song of the Vikings.
*Hot springs were a big deal in medieval Iceland. Not only did they provide a reliable heat source in a cold place with limited access to wood for fires, they also provided warm water for cooking, bathing and washing clothes. More important, if less obvious to a modern American, control of a hot spring had serious agricultural benefits. Warm water meadows meant grass sprouted sooner in the spring and stayed green longer, making a richer hay crop and the ability to keep more of the horses, sheep and cattle by which wealth (and survival) were measured.
They aren't kidding when they call them hot springs!
Today hot springs not only provide geothermal heat and cheap electricity, they also power greenhouses--an astonishing thing in a place where historically all vegetables have been imported. One of the unexpected highlights of the trip was the stop at a farmstand that was selling greenhouse-grown strawberries. 
Really excellent strawberries. My Own True Love and I ate a pint of them in the van on the way to the next stop. Okay, I'll admit it. He let me have more than my share.
**Even the hot tub is a reconstruction.