Ingólfur Arnarson

…in 874 by the Norseman Ingólfur Arnarson. However, a town began to develop in that location only centuries later. Before the 18th century most of what is now Reykjavík consisted of farms. In the 18th century a settlement was established to support the local wool industry. It was granted municipal…

…that the first permanent settler, Ingólfr Arnarson, came from Norway to Iceland to settle in the year 874. He chose as his homestead a site that he named Reykjavík, which he farmed with his wife, Hallveig Fródadóttir. The Book of Settlements then enumerates more than 400 settlers who sailed with…