Íslendingabók in the context of "Ingjald"

The settlement of Iceland (Icelandic: landnámsöld [ˈlantˌnaumsˌœlt]) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the ninth century, when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration are uncertain: later in the Middle Ages Icelanders themselves tended to cite civil strife brought about by the ambitions of the Norwegian king Harald I of Norway, but modern historians focus on deeper factors, such as a shortage of arable land in Scandinavia. Unlike Great Britain and Ireland, Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants.

On the basis of Íslendingabók by Ari Þorgilsson, and Landnámabók, histories dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and providing a wealth of detail about the settlement, the years 870 and 874 have traditionally been considered the first years of settlement. However, these sources are largely unreliable in the details they provide about the settlement, and recent research focuses more heavily on archaeological and genetic evidence.

Ari Þorgilsson (1067/1068 – 9 November 1148; Old Norse: [ˈɑre ˈθorˌɡilsˌson]; Modern Icelandic: [ˈaːrɪ ˈθɔrˌcɪlsˌsɔːn]; also anglicized Ari Thorgilsson) was Iceland's most prominent medieval chronicler. He was the author of Íslendingabók, which details the histories of the various families who settled Iceland. He is typically referred to as Ari the Wise (Ari fróði), and according to Snorri Sturluson was the first to write history in Old Norse.

Ari was a part of the Haukdælir family clan and studied in the school in Haukadalur as a student of Teitur Ísleifsson (the son of Ísleifur Gissurarson, first bishop of Iceland). There he became acquainted with Classical education. His writings clearly indicate that he was familiar with Latin chronicler traditions, but at the same time he is widely regarded as excelling in the Icelandic oral storytelling tradition.

The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem Ynglingatal. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old English: Scylfingas, Old Norse: Skilfingar) in Beowulf. When Beowulf and Ynglingatal were composed sometime in the eighth to tenth centuries, their respective authors (scops and skalds) expected their audience to have a great deal of background information about these kings, which is shown in the allusiveness of the references.

According to sources such as Ynglingatal and Íslendingabók, the Fairhair dynasty in Oppland, Norway was in fact a branch of the Ynglings (here Yngling is explicitly used as the name of the dynasty). Saxo Grammaticus held that the Ynglings also included Eric the Victorious, who is usually the first king in modern regnal lists, and his descendants. However, this does not tally with Icelandic sources.

Tønsberg (pronounced [ˈtœ̂nsbær(ɡ)] ), historically Tunsberg, is a city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about 102 kilometres (63 miles) south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The city is the most populous metropolis in Vestfold county. Tønsberg also serves as the administrative centre for Vestfold county and the seat of the County Governor of Vestfold og Telemark.

Tønsberg is generally regarded as the oldest city in Norway, founded in the 9th century. Snorri Sturluson mentions the town in Harald Hårfagre's saga (written around 1220) before the battle at Hafrsfjord, which historians have traditionally dated to the year 872, therefore the town was in existence by 871 at the latest. This dating is again based on Are Frode's book, Íslendingabók. Using this information, Tønsberg celebrated its one-thousandth anniversary in 1871 and its 1100th anniversary in 1971. Archaeological findings confirm that there was a farm settlement in Tønsberg at the end of the 8th century, which likely developed into a town during the early 9th century.