The
settlement of Iceland is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century, when
Norse settlers migrated across the
North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of arable land in
Scandinavia and civil strife brought about by the ambitions of the Norwegian king
Harald I of Norway. Unlike the
British Isles,
Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants.