Iceland

In the modern era, the European discovery of North American became a proxy for conflicts between American Protestants and Catholics, as well as northern Europeans who claimed Vikings like Leif Eriksson (left) as their ancestors and southern Europeans who touted links to Columbus (right) and the monarchs of Spain.

Viking Map of North America Identified as 20th-Century Forgery

New technical analysis dates Yale's Vinland Map to the 1920s or later, not the 1440s as previously suggested

Elite Vikings constructed a huge stone boat for use in rituals at the Surtshellir cave.

Did Vikings Host Rituals Designed to Stop Ragnarök in This Volcanic Cave?

New findings at a cavern in Iceland point to decades of elite ceremonial activity aimed at preventing the apocalypse

Since mid-March, more than 30,000 tourists have visited the eruption site, which is just 20 miles from Iceland’s capital, Reykyavík.

New Fissure in Iceland Volcano Prompts Evacuation of Tourists

Scientists re-evaluated the safety of the eruption site after a new fissure began spewing steam and lava a half-mile from the original craters

As historian Nancy Marie Brown points out, “[A]sking not ‘Are the sagas true?’ but ‘Are they plausible?’” is a far better barometer for testing the Viking tales’ veracity.

Did a Viking Woman Named Gudrid Really Travel to North America in 1000 A.D.?

The sagas suggest she settled in Newfoundland and eventually made eight crossings of the North Atlantic Sea

Rotten fish contain a smellable chemical found in bad breath, faeces and blood, but some people identified it as sweets or roses.

If Rotten Fish Smell Like Roses to You, a Genetic Mutation Might Be to Blame

A new study in Iceland found a connection between a person’s ability to sniff stinky fish and a gene called TAAR5

Release the Kraken!

The Legend, the History and the Science Behind Seattle's New Hockey Team Name

NHL fans, meet the Seattle Kraken—named for a mythical beast that may have been inspired by the very real giant squid

Replica of a Norse Viking longhouse in Scotland's Shetland Islands. Archaeologists in Iceland have uncovered the remains of two ancient Viking longhouses that may have been among the island's very first settlements.

Newly Excavated Viking Dwelling May Be Oldest Found in Iceland

Archaeologists say the settlement, which may have housed a Norse chieftain, dates to roughly 800 A.D.

The Melckmeyt sank in October 1659

Take a Virtual Tour of a 17th-Century Shipwreck

A new VR experience lets users explore the "Melckmeyt" without diving into Iceland’s freezing waters

Plaque Memorializes First Icelandic Glacier Lost to Climate Change

In 2014, the Okjökull was declared dead after dwindling from over 5 square miles to a mound of "dead ice"

Two Captive Beluga Whales Are Heading to First-of-Its-Kind Sanctuary in Iceland

It is the first refuge of its kind for belugas

Over 1 million people have made the pilgrimage to the ecologically sensitive spot since 2015.

Justin Bieber Ruined This Idyllic Icelandic Canyon

Over a million people have tromped the edges of Fjaðrárgljúfur since Biebs danced on its edge in a 2015 video

Book of Lost Books Discovered in Danish Archive

The index is part of the Libro de los Epítomes, an effort by Christopher Columbus' illegitimate son to create a searchable index of the world's knowledge

Icelandic horses today

Burials Suggest Icelandic Vikings Had a Thing for Stallions

Adding some insight into their little-known funerary practices, DNA analyses confirm that sacrificial stallions were buried in Viking graves

Eldgjá, Iceland

A Violent Volcanic Eruption Immortalized in Medieval Poem May Have Spurred Iceland’s Adoption of Christianity

A new study looks for traces of the devastating volcanic event in a poem composed in approximately 961 A.D.

In Iceland, There's a Word for an Ice Cream Road Trip. Here's Where to <i>Ísbíltúr</i> This Winter

Follow the Paths of Viking Raiders from Norway to North America

Visit these preserved settlement sites

The Climeworks device in Iceland that can filter carbon dioxide from ambient air and send it underground

First 'Negative Emissions' Plant Opens in Iceland, Turning Atmospheric CO2 Into Stone

The plant's operators hope to halt the warming of the Earth, but many challenges remain for the plan to work on a large scale

Orbis et Globus in place - for now

This Wandering Concrete Sphere Will Track the Movements of the Arctic Circle

On a small Icelandic island, a massive piece of art will track Earth's wobble in space

The Hirshhorn purchased all four current installments of artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s ongoing video series Me and My Mother,” including any future installments.

Why the Artist Ragnar Kjartansson Asked his Mother to Spit On Him

The Icelandic performance piece <em>Me and My Mother</em> is latest Hirshhorn acquisition

Iceland's Volcano and Earthquake Museum is Devoted to the Country's "Epic" Geology

The Lava Center is surrounded by three volcanoes

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