The Northern Tapestry

Exploring the sagas and stories that link medieval Iceland, Scandinavia and the northern British Isles

Ortelius Map reproduced with permission from Vintage Maps

Blog

  • Iceland at the end of the 7th Century

    Iceland at the end of the 7th Century

    Traditionally Iceland was “discovered” or founded around the year 874 when Norwegian (and then northern British) exiles stumbled by chance on the North Atlantic island. However the Icelandic Book of Settlements (Landnámabók) states that: En áður Ísland byggðist af Noregi, voru þar þeir menn, er Norðmenn kalla papa; þeir voru menn kristnir, og hyggja menn, Read more

  • Mainland Scandinavia at the end of the 7th Century

    Mainland Scandinavia at the end of the 7th Century

    The people who lived here, mainly on the coastal or low-lying lands, had been living in well-organised political and social units since the 6th century. Like the northern Britons, their ancestors would have had some contact with the mighty Roman Empire, including trade, but were not governed by it. The Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf (and other Read more

  • The British Isles at the end of the 7th Century

    The British Isles at the end of the 7th Century

    Bede writes of the five different languages being spoken in northern Britain in the 8th century. These are the languages of the Anglorum, Brettonum, Scottorum, Pictorum et Latinorum*. The first four of these link to distinct groups of people (the English, The Britons, The Scots and The Picts), while the last one is of course Read more

  • Introduction

    Introduction

    The Northern Tapestry is a history blog, covering roughly a period of 400 years starting at the end of the 7th Century and set in the area which is now the northern British Isles, mainland Scandinavia and the north Atlantic lands and islands. The aim is to look at some of the well-known (and not Read more