More on the Viking Isles

It seems the first settlers to the Faroe Islands may have been Irish Monks, but the earliest Vikings arrived possibly as early as 825. They were settlers, farmers and homesteaders; not raiders. I suspect they came across to fish at first, found the islands uninhabited but habitable and began a migration over. Interestingly the Viking freeman had a great deal of rights that few other European enjoyed. They had property rights as well as the right to vote in the Thing, the body that allowed the to determine who might fish where and who might be King and even what religion they might have. A little more reading here.

At Kvivik (I just like this language) archeologists have unearthed what appears to be a 72 foot long long house with a 21 foot fire pit running down the center of it. Now THAT is the way to live!