Ancestry

The Icelanders are the direct descendents of the vikings, who have settled this island in the north Atlantic from Norway. But also a shot of Celtic blood from Great Britain and Ireland flows through the veins of the todays population. The Icelandic society is homogeneous - the restrictive immigration policy makes it hard for immigrants to settle. It often seems that every Icelander is related to the other. It is therefore not surprising that many Icelanders are devoted to ancestry research. One of my Icelandic friends can track his genealogy back 33 generations - back to an illegitimate son of a Norwegian king.