History of Iceland Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hiberno-Scottish Mission

There is evidence of the Papars being in Iceland as early as the 8th century, whereas the Norse settled in Iceland the 9th century. The Hiberno-Scottish Mission expeditions saw a lot of lands, and there is evidence Iceland is one of them. These were Irish clergy known as 'Papars' and are first mentioned in the 'Íslendingabók' or 'Book of Icelanders' which was written in the 12th century.

Answer: Naddodd

Naddodd was also one of the first settlers of the Faroe Islands, located around 200 miles north of Scotland, about halfway between Iceland and Norway. Naddodd was in the process of sailing to the Faroe Islands from Norway, but he got so lost he ended up on the east coast of Iceland, in the 9th century.

Answer: Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson

Landnámabók is the manuscript that describes Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson's journey to Iceland, as well as other Norsemen who followed. Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson had heard about the island from a Swedish Viking, and according to The Book of Settlement sailed for what is now Iceland in 868 AD, bringing three ravens with him. One flew back to the Faroe Islands.

The other flew into the air, then back to the boat after a time. The third flew ahead, and he followed this raven to Iceland.

Answer: Garðar Svavarsson

Garðar Svavarsson is also featured in Landnámabók. In the AD 860s, he got lost at sea (as a storm sent his ship up north from where he was sailing in the strait of Pentland Firth, near Scotland). He was pushed to the coast of Iceland by the storm. He named the island "Garðarshólmi" after himself, but upon telling Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson about the island and inspiring him to sail for it, Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson thought better of the name, instead calling the island "Land of Ice."

Answer: Beer

Beer was banned in Iceland for 74 years (from January 1,1915) -- on March 1, 1989 beer was no longer banned. March 1 has been coined "Beer Day" (or "Bjórdagurinn") in Iceland, and celebrated annually ever since. Residents of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, particularly appreciate and take part in Beer Day.

Answer: Thursday

Broadcasting from 1966, Iceland used to have just one television channel available, broadcast via the government. This was to encourage the country to be productive, socialise and not spend too much time in front of the television. It also did not broadcast any programmes during the holiday month of July, until 1983.

Answer: Battle of Víðines

In the 13th century secular and clerical forces went to war in Iceland, in the Battle of Víðines. Catholic bishop Guðmundur Arason wanted to keep the judicial powers over its members and the clergy, and was against the idea of sharing those powers with the chieftains and secular members of Iceland. This ended in violence when some of these secular men came looking for a bishop they claimed to have business with.

Kolbeinn Tumason died in this battle by a wound to the head, from a rock. Over 700 years after the battle, Icelandic composer Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson wrote music for the poem Tumason had written. In 2013 the hymn went viral after being performed on Youtube by Icelandic indie rock group, Árstíðir. Two episodes of the Handmaids Tale also feature this hymn.

Answer: Bahá'i

The Baháʼí Faith teaches that all world religions are valid, and should all exist in peace and unity. The religion has its roots in Bábism, a religion established in Persia in the 1840s. She was introduced to this religion by Amelia Collins, a prominent figure in the religion from America.

She helped Martha Root, a teacher of the faith, navigate Iceland to spread their message in 1936.

Answer: Albert Sigurður Guðmundsson

Albert Sigurður Guðmundsson played for Arsenal of England, and some other teams in his professional football career. He played for Arsenal from 1944-1946. He was Arsenal's second foreign player.

After retiring from professional football, Albert Sigurður Guðmundsson became a member of the Alþingi (Icelandic parliament) and was active in it for around 15 years. He began his career in the Alþingi in 1974. By 1983 he was Minister of Finance for Iceland. By 1985 he was Minister of Industry, but was forced to resigned in 1987, over a tax scandal.

Answer: Matthías Jochumsson

Also known as 'Ó Guð vors lands' ('O God of Our Land'). Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson was involved in creating the song, but he wrote the music while Matthías Jochumsson wrote the lyrics.

"Lofsöngur" has been the national anthem of Iceland since 1944, since the country parted ways with Denmark and became an independent country.

Answer: Map

For his works in cartography and surveying, received both the Order of the Dannebrog, and the Légion d'honneur in the mid-1800's. Between 1831-1843 he surveyed and documented the terrain of Iceland, for the Icelandic Literary Society. This resulted in the first completed map of Iceland, produced at a a scale of 1:480,000 between 4 sheets.

Answer: Global Energy Prize

Thorsteinn I. Sigfusson was an Icelandic physicist, a pioneer in the field of energy research, and was President of Icelandic New Energy Ltd, since 2000. This company is known for popularizing the use of hydrogen fuel (a low carbon fuel burned with oxygen) in Iceland. He also had an important part in the development of the aluminium industry in Iceland.

Answer: Sveinn Björnsson

Sveinn Björnsson was President of Iceland from 1944-1952. He was a freemason, helping establish a Masonic Lodge in Reykjavik. He was Grandmaster of the Icelandic Order of Freemasons.

After Iceland became independent of Demark in 1944, Iceland and its new President had poor relations with the country. King Christian X proclaimed that he was under the impression Iceland would again become part of Denmark, once the Nazi occupation had ended. Sveinn Björnsson strongly disagreed with this. He did not make any official visits to Denmark during his time in office. He died in 1952, the first Icelandic President to die in office.

Answer: Lhotse

At just under 28,000 feet high, Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world. The mountain is part of the Himalayas, situated on the border between China and Nepal. Later on, also in 2017, he also became the first Icelander to reach the summit of K2, which is the second-highest mountain of the world, at approximately 28,250 feet high.

Answer: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir also became Iceland's first female Prime Minister in 2009. She was first elected an MP of Iceland in 1978. She held this position until 2013, until she was promoted as the country's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security. In 1994, Sigurðardóttir lost to another MP in a bid for leadership of the Icelandic Social Democratic Party, raising her fist in the air and proclaiming "Minn tími mun koma!" that is, "My time will come!" It did. She became Iceland's first female Prime Minister in 2009.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir's time as Prime Minister saw protests due to Iceland's financial crisis at the time, a problem it shared with the rest of the world since the 2008 financial crash. She also banned strip clubs and paying for nudity in cafes and restaurants. This was a first for a democratic Western country.

Answer: True

Iceland was not directly involved in the First World War. Iceland was a state of Denmark at the time, which had decided to remain neutral in the conflict/ However, over 1,00 Icelanders fought in World War I. They were Icelandic immigrants who had travelled to North America, and most of these men were enlisted to fight for Canada. Around a third over these men were born in Iceland, the rest had Icelandic heritage.

Answer: Guðjón Samúelsson

Guðjón Samúelsson was the first person of Iceland to be educated in architecture and he was also a State architect, having designed many landmark buildings of Iceland. He designed several large churches of Iceland, such as Reykjavík's Christ the King Cathedral, and Hallgrímskirkja, a Lutheran church which is the largest church of Iceland. Completed in 1986, Hallgrímskirkja took over 40 years to build.

Answer: Mikhail Gorbachev

In 1986, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, met U.S. President Ronald Reagan in the Reykjavík Summit meeting. Regan wanted to talk about matters such as human rights, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Gorbachev was more interested in talking about weapons and arms control.

Although there was no agreement by the time the meeting was over, it started a discussion about human rights, and facilitated a treaty that was signed the following year: the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Answer: McDonald's

Reykjavik did once have a small amount of McDonald's restaurants. The financial crash of 2008 meant that importing ingredients to Iceland skyrocketed in price. The chain simply had to shut down in Iceland. The last McDonald's cheeseburger bought in Iceland is in a museum as an exhibit there.

Answer: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was President of Iceland between 1980-1996. She served four terms as president, and was the fourth President of Iceland. She was a popular president, and was appreciated for her response to the 1995 avalanches in Flateyri and Súdavík. She showed great sympathy and warmth to the families at the memorial service. She was also the first Icelandic president to officially visit the island of Grímsey. Grímsey is the northernmost territory of Iceland, and the Arctic Circle runs through it. Mainland Iceland is south of the Arctic Circle.

She was highly invested in promoting Icelandic language, culture and nature.