Hidden history Why Irish and Scottish Celts are key to 'viking' Iceland's past

Iceland's capital, Reykjavik. Researchers have identified common Icelandic words which have Gaelic roots 

- Severin Carrell, PHOTOGRAPH: PATPONGS/ ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY

According to folklore, a Gaelic-speaking warrior queen called Aud was among Iceland’s earliest settlers. Her story is central to an emerging theory that Scottish and Irish Celts once played a far bigger role in Iceland’s history than previously realised.

A book by Thorvaldur Fridriksson , an Icelandic archaeologist and journalist, argues that Gaelic-speaking Celtic settlers from Ireland and western Scotland had a profound impact on the Icelandic language, landscape and early literature.

Aud had been queen of Viking Dublin in the ninth century before taking her family, and Scottish and Irish crewmen, on the voyage to Iceland. Fridriksson believes that through settlers such as Aud, Gaelic language and culture were integral to Iceland’s early history.

He has compiled a list of common Icelandic words and, with other academics, identified Icelandic landmarks that he believes have Gaelic roots. The skaldic poetry, edda poetic traditions and the sagas upon which Iceland’s history is based were heavily influenced by Gaelic culture and immigrants, he argues.

“Every Icelander who has been living for a long time in another Scandinavian country – who has learned to speak Norwegian, Danish or Swedish very well – comes home back to Iceland, hears words in Icelandic never spoken in these languages,” Fridriksson said.