ICELAND: Aviation at the Arctic Circle

摘要

In their westward migration from Norway more than a thousand years ago, the seafaring Vikings navigated their longboats across the treacherous North Atlantic all the way to today's Eastern Canada. Along the way, they settled numerous islands isolated by thousands of square kilometers of ocean, the largest of which was a volcanic pile they initially called Snaeland ("Snow Land"), then later renamed Iceland for the icebergs that clogged a prominent fjord. According to ancient records, the first permanent settler on the island was Norwegian chieftain Ingolfr Ar-narson, who arrived in 874, although archeological digs have revealed that he may have been preceded by Irish monks called the "Papar." Despite its location (66 deg., 37 min. north) brushing the Arctic Circle - and its reputation and name -Iceland sits in the path of the Gulf Stream's relatively warm water that provides it with a somewhat temperate climate (and keeps Western Europe from emulating Siberia). As a result, the misnamed island's eastern side actually greens up in the northern summer, which ultimately attracted immigrants from Scandinavia, principally Norway and Sweden.