by Richard Merchant lustrated by Diane BlasiusPhoto credit; p.16, Michael Nicholson/Corbis Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to School Permissions and Copyrights, Harcourt, Inc., 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887- 6777. Fax: 407-345-2418 HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions. Printed in Mexico ISBN 0-15-323288-9 Ordering Options ISBN 0-15-325525-0 (Grade 4 Advanced-Level Collection) ISBN 0-15-327328-1 (package of 5) 8910 126 1009080706by Richard Merchant lustrated by Diane Blasius Chapters ALand of Contrasts ......... 2 Enter the Vikings ......+.++.6 A New Home............+. 10 Harcourt Orlando Boston Dallas Chicago San Diego Visit The Learning Site! www.harcourtschool.comA Land of Contrasts Stranded in the far North Atlantic, just barely below the Arctic Circle, is a small island country called Iceland. If you were passing by it in a cruise ship one summer day, you might wonder why it is called Iceland, since its coast is so grassy and inviting. In truth, only the coast of Iceland is green and only in summer. Almost all of the people who live in Iceland have their homes along the coast. A large plateau takes up most of Iceland. A plateau is land that is high and flat like a tabletop. Iceland’s high tabletop land covers the middle of the island.ee cael . Te hla em a any Tie eee Covering part of Iceland’s plateau is a thick, black crust. It was created thousands of years ago as the island’s 200 volcanoes erupted. When volcanoes erupt, they spit out hot lava. When lava cools, it hardens. Huge sheets of ice called glaciers cover another large part of Iceland’s plateau. Some of these glaciers have lakes of melted ice in them. Contrary to what many people believe, the weather never gets very cold in Iceland, even in January. That’s partly because Iceland has more hot springs than any other place in the world. Iceland has many hot-water geysers, too. Geysers are springs of hot water that erupt into the air.This small island is special in many ways. In the middle are volcanoes, hot springs, and frozen glaciers. In other parts, however, you can find grassy areas dotted with animal burrows. The first people to explore this island must have been surprised. Who would expect to find volcanoes? Who would expect to find glaciers? Who would expect to find geysers? Who would expect to find them all on one island? Over the centuries, explorers, hunters, and fishers from many nations have landed on the strange shores of Iceland. 4The first person to find what we now know as Iceland was a man named Pytheas. He was from Greece, a country far to the south and east of Iceland. Pytheas sailed past the shores of Iceland in about 300 B.c. Perhaps the fog or the glaciers appeared intimidating to Pytheas and his crew. Perhaps the wildlife on the island was unfamiliar. For whatever reason, Pytheas and his crew looked at the uninhabited island but did not go ashore. They told people about this strange land when they returned home to Greece. Pytheas called the island we know as Iceland Thule.Enter the Vilangs As far as we know, people did not set foot on this unusual island until 870 a.D., over a thousand years after Pytheas’s voyage. These first people to explore Iceland were the Vikings. The Vikings came from Norway. For about 300 years, this fierce group of people explored the world. They were the greatest explorers the world had ever seen. In fact, the expression to go a-viking means to “go exploring.” The Vikings were not afraid of much. They were very good sailors, and they were curious. The Vikings wanted to know what they might find if they sailed far away. Were there lands where no one lived, or did the water just go on forever and ever? 6Sometimes Vikings left home for another reason. If Vikings fought battles among themselves, the Viking who lost the battle had to leave Norway. It was not safe for him to stay. He would take his family and his men to a safer place to live. Ingolfur Arnarson was a Viking chieftain who battled with a more powerful chieftain and lost. He was forced to leave Norway. After going “a-viking” for a time, Ingolfur went back to Norway to pack his ship. He had found a new place to live. He named the island he planned to live on Iceland. In his language, the word iceland means “island.”Many Vikings traveled in long boats that were built for speed and for war. These boats often had carvings of serpentlike dragons decorating their bows. Ingolfur, however, traveled in a merchant boat, which was wider and deeper than a long boat. It was built for taking big loads from one place to another. A merchant boat could hold Viking men, their family members, their tools, food, and animals. Ingolfur and his family were ready for their venture to Iceland. There were other travelers on the boat, too. The distance from Norway to their new home was 700 miles. It was an exciting but dangerous trip. Vikings were proud of being brave. If they were afraid, they probably didn’t show it.The merchant boat had an open deck and no place to shelter animals from the wind, rain, and constant splashing of waves. There was no place for people to get away from bad weather, either. The passengers had to take each day as it came. If a storm came up, everyone tried to stay alive. In rough weather, the travelers had to bail out water that splashed onto the deck while trying not to fall overboard. On those days, they could only hope for the best. In calm weather, Ingolfur and the others would have time to eat the dried fish and meat they had packed.After seven days and seven nights of sailing, Ingolfur and everyone else on board the merchant boat wanted to see something besides waves. Ingolfur had promised them that there was an island for them to live on. They knew their new home would be far away from Norway and their enemies. “How far away is it?” they must have wondered. “When will we get there?” Finally, they saw some birds fly past the boat. Perhaps they saw a puffin flying instinctively to the top of a plateau, where these birds often nestle together. Ingolfur knew that land was near! He sailed on. Through the fog, he could just barely make out a green coast. Iceland! 10In the fog, no one could see the whole island. They couldn’t see inland where the volcanoes, hot springs, and glaciers were. All they could see was a stretch of green grass. Iceland must have looked beautiful to the tired Vikings. Following a Viking tradition, Ingolfur threw two pieces of wood overboard. Everyone watched the wood float. At first, the wood just bobbed up and down near the ship. Then the waves pushed the wood slowly toward the land. It was important to see where the wood touched the shore because that was where the Vikings would build their houses.The two pieces of wood landed on the shore of a foggy bay. Ingolfur named the bay Reykjavik, which means “bay of smoke.” Of course, there was no smoke on the bay, just fog. The Vikings climbed off the boat at last. They had lots of work to do. They had to build houses before winter came and find grassy places where their animals could graze. The Vikings also needed to find out what crops might grow on the island. They knew they could catch plenty of fish in the waters that surrounded the island. 12As time went by, more Vikings came from Norway to settle in Iceland. They left Norway because there wasn’t enough good farmland there. ‘The Viking settlers who came to Iceland were all farmers. They brought their sheep, cows, and oxen with them. Where grass grows in Iceland, the land is rocky and hilly. It’s not good for planting crops. However, the Vikings discovered that this land was a good place for grazing animals. A flock of sheep could graze from hill to hill during the summer days. Sheep eat grass almost down to the roots. The sheep would eat all the grass on one hill. The farmer would then move them onto another hill, so the grass on the first hill could grow high again. Cows and oxen are not as good at climbing as sheep are. Fortunately, there was enough grass on the lower land for the cows and oxen to eat. Farmers cut grass in the summer and stored it for winter feed. The settlers needed wheat, other grains, and vegetables. Because the land was not good for farming, they had to trade with people from other places to get these things. They traded fish, of which they had plenty.Greenland Sea — Grimsey @ Vestmannaeyjar @ North Atlantic OceanFor hundreds of years, Icelandic daily life changed very little. Many people who live in Iceland today are descendants of the original Viking settlers. Their lifestyle is much like that of the Vikings in some ways. As in the past, Icelandic people today depend on fishing to trade with other countries. Of course, Icelanders eat a lot of fish as well! Like the early Viking settlers, Icelandic people today raise sheep on the grassy hills. There are twice as many sheep as people in Iceland. Wool from the sheep is used to make sweaters and other clothing.These days, many Icelanders live in towns and cities rather than in the country. ‘These cities are built very solidly. In fact, many of the buildings are built so well that they would probably remain standing after an earthquake! The energy generated by the country’s hot springs gives Iceland much of its electric power. People pay very little for heat and electricity in Iceland. Iceland was once a mysterious island in the North Atlantic. Little by little, however, Iceland has entered the modern world. Life is good in Iceland.Think and Respond @ How can you tell what the main topics of this book are? What are they? ® Nonfiction books often contain detailed descriptions of people, places, and events. In your own words, describe a person, place, or event from this book. © What is the main idea of this book? © How do you know that life for the early Viking settlers on Iceland was probably difficult? © Howis Iceland similar to another place you’ve read about? How is it different? © Describe how you might have felt as a passenger on Ingolfur Arnarson’s boat when you first saw Iceland. ee The Rulers of Iceland Iceland was once g o ruled by other countries. Find out which countries used to rule Iceland, and share what you find out with your classmates. y School-Home Connection Ask someone at @ 2 home what he or she thinks life is like on Iceland. Then share what you have learned. Discuss how life on Iceland compares with life in your town or city. os,