Naddoddr

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Naddoddr (Icelandic: Naddoður, Faroese: Naddoddur) was a Viking credited with the discovery of Iceland.

Naddoddr was born in Agder, Norway and was one of the first settlers on the Faroe Islands after Grímur Kamban was the first Nordic man there around 825.

According to legend he became lost while sailing from Norway to the Faroe Islands sometime around the year 850. He came upon the shore of a land with a bay and mountains at Reyðarfjörður. Although he climbed a mountain to look for smoke rising from fireplaces he saw no sign of inhabitants. Naddoddr decided to continue his journey to the Faroe Islands, but as he returned to his boat it started to snow and so he named the land "Snæland" ("Snowland" in English). The island later became known as Iceland.

Naddoddr is probably the father of Ann Naddodsdóttir from Shetland. It has been claimed that Naddoddr was the first Nordic man to travel to North America - about 150 years before Leifur Heppni (Leif Eriksson), his great great grandnephew.

[edit] External links

• Naddoddur.com (about the Faroese rowingboat Naddoddur and its history)