A short distance along the pedestrian path by the harbor took me to the Viking Memorial. Iceland was settled by Vikings from Norway and Britain between 870 and 930 A.D. According to the Landnámabók, or Book of Settlements, the first settlers were a couple Ingólfur Arnarson and Hallveig Frodadottir. They settled with their family around 874, in a place he named Reykjavík (Cove of Smoke) due to the geothermal steam rising from the earth. The Vikings were a rough bunch and given to frequent fighting so in 930 the ruling chiefs established an assembly called the Alþingi (Althing) creating one of the first parliaments in history. They would meet each summer at Þingvellir where they would write laws and settle disputes. Þingvellir? Its pronunced Thingvellir. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know that. Iceland was isolated for such a long time that today their language is very similar to Old Norse. It contains letters found nowhere else. The symbol above is the runic letter thorn (Þ) which translates as TH. And don’t let the perspective in this image fool you. The top of the memorial rises ten feet above the base.