Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

Content Warning: This section of the guides describes religious discrimination and violent deaths of people and animals.



Iceland, c. 900

The earliest settlers to Iceland recognized its elemental forces, calling it “Snow Land” before “Ice Land” and naming Reykjavik for the steam from its hot springs. Barraclough argues these settlers, who began arriving around 870, needed to create invisible, sentient forces to explain the powers at work in their new environment, but hard evidence is elusive.

Light From Light

Around 900, Icelanders experienced their first major volcanic eruption; lava flowed for months and swallowed up farmsteads. Inside caves carved by the lava, there is evidence of ritual offerings.

The lava cave Surtshellir is named for the fire giant and destroyer Surt, known in Icelandic myths as the murderer of Frey at Ragnarok, who brings flames to swallow the world. Surtshellir is at the end of several kilometers of volcanic tunnels. Seven large piles of unburned animal bones stretch through the cave; the largest appears to copy the outline of a ship. Inside is a layer of crushed basalt and burned animal bones, along with glass, jasper, and chalcedony. The shared trait among these offerings is that they are formed through fire, what Barraclough deems “fitting gifts to placate a fire giant” (125).