
Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarsson (
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: ;
Modern Icelandic
Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it ...
: ; born 9th century) was a
Norseman who intentionally sailed to
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. His story is documented in the ''
Landnámabók
(, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE.
is divided into five parts and ov ...
'' manuscript; however, the precise year of his arrival is not clear. He was of
Norwegian origin.
Voyage to Iceland
In 868, Flóki left to search for the land found by
Garðar Svavarsson way up in the north.
He was accompanied by his family on his journey; his wife was named Gró and his children included Oddleifur and Thjódgerdur. From
Western Norway
Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...
he set sail to the
Shetland Islands
Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...
where it is said his daughter drowned. He continued his journey and landed in the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
where another of his daughters was wed. There he took three
ravens
Ravens may refer to:
* Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' of passerine birds
Sports
* Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana
* Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise
* B ...
to help him find his way to Iceland, and thus, he was nicknamed Raven-Flóki (
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
and ) and he is commonly remembered by that name.
Others making the trip included Thorolf (''Þórólfr'') and two men named Herjolf and Faxe ( and ). After sailing for a while from the Faroes, Flóki set the ravens free. The first raven flew back to the Faroes; later, the second flew up in the air and back on board, but the third flew northwest and did not return. Flóki now knew they were close to land, and so they followed the third raven. After sailing west past
Reykjanes
Reykjanes () is a small headland on the south-western end of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. Volcanic action is responsible for forming the entire peninsula. The nearest town is Keflavik.
The name, , trans ...
, they spotted a large bay. Faxe remarked that they seemed to have found great land. The bay facing
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
was therefore known as ''
Faxaflói
Faxaflói (), sometimes Faxa Bay, Faxe Bay or Faxi Bay,Thorstein Thorsteinsson. 1930. ''Iceland, 1930: A Handbook Published on the Fortieth Anniversary of Landsbanki Íslands (National Bank of Iceland)''. Reykjavík: Ríkisprentsmidjan Gutenberg. ...
'' ().
Flóki set up a winter camp in
Vatnsfjörður at
Barðaströnd.
The summer was very good, so Flóki was ill-prepared for the cold winter that followed. Waiting for the spring, Flóki hiked up the highest mountain above his camp, now believed to be Nónfell in
Westfjords
The Westfjords or West Fjords (, ) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative region, the least populous in the country. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of I ...
. From there, he spotted a large fjord;
Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland.
The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ...
, then full of drift ice. Thus, he named the entire land (Iceland).
When Flóki and the other men returned to Norway, they were asked about the newly found land. Flóki believed it to be worthless. Herjolf believed that the land had both good and bad qualities. Thorolf claimed that butter was smeared on every straw on the land that they had found. Thorolf was then nicknamed Thorolf Butter (). Despite speaking ill of the land, Flóki later returned and settled to live there to his death.
In fiction
Floki the boat builder, a character played by Swedish actor
Gustaf Skarsgård
Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgård (born 12 November 1980) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his roles in ''Evil'' (2003), '' The Way Back'' (2010), ''Kon-Tiki'' (2012), and '' Oppenheimer'' (2023). He also appeared in the HBO TV series ''Westworld ...
in the
History
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
channel's
''Vikings'' television series, is loosely based on Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson. In season 5 of the show he arrives in Iceland, believing he has found
Asgard
In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr''; "Garden of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in several Old Norse sagas and mythological texts, including the Eddas, however it has also been suggested to be refe ...
.
See also
*
Settlement of Iceland
The settlement of Iceland ( ) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the ninth century, when Norsemen, Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration are uncertain: later in the Middle Ages Icel ...
*
Timeline of Icelandic history
*
Naddoddur — the first Scandinavian to discover Iceland, though accidental
*
Garðar Svavarsson — second, also accidental
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*Byock, Jesse (1988) ''Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas and Power'' (University of California Press)
*Byock, Jesse (2001) ''Viking Age Iceland'' (Penguin Books)
*Hjalmarsson, Jon R. (1993) ''History of Iceland - From Settlement to the Present Day'' (Reykjavík: Iceland Review )
*
Jones, Gwyn (1986) ''The Norse Atlantic Saga: Being the Norse Voyages of Discovery and Settlement to Iceland, Greenland, and North America'' (Oxford University Press)
*Karlsson, Gunnar (2000) ''The History of Iceland'' (University of Minnesota Press)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilgerdarson, Hrafna-Floki
Viking explorers
Hrafna-Floki Vilgerdarson
9th-century Vikings