Strange as it may seem for an island nation, the sailor's profession is a relatively new occupation in Iceland. To be sure, Icelanders have been a seagoing people from the country's settlement in the late ninth century, but mostly as fishermen. An Icelandic merchant navy, in the traditional meaning of that term, was not born until the early twentieth century. Until then Icelanders who wanted to be sailors all sailed in vessels operating out of foreign ports and flying foreign colours.

The present paper is divided into three sections. The first starts with a brief survey of the few ocean-going Icelandic vessels in the Middle Ages and the country's commercial links with Europe before 1800. Then the diaries of two seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Icelandic sailors will be discussed as well as the fragmentary evidence of Icelanders sailing in Dutch vessels between 1600 and 1800. The second section deals with Icelandic fishermen from the thirteenth through the eighteenth century, while the third section covers the nineteenth century, where it will be argued that the period up to 1870 was transitional in that a “new” class of Icelandic fishermen and sailors emerged.

Icelandic Sailors, 900-1800

Scanty - and often unclear - sources describe merchant vessels owned by Icelanders between the late ninth century and about 1100. From 1100 to 1170, we know with certainty of five ocean-going vessels owned by Icelanders, but from about 1200 until the nineteenth century Iceland's population was entirely dependent on foreigners for all trade and communication with other lands. The importance of the link with Europe can be seen from the fact that when Iceland recognized the supremacy of the king of Norway in 1262, he promised to ensure that six vessels would sail from Norway to Iceland in the next two years. After that the king and the “best Icelanders” would come to an agreement on the annual number of vessels to ply the seas between the two countries.

For the next 350 years the commercial link between Iceland and Europe was served by Norwegian/Danish merchants as well as by English and Hanseatic fishermen/merchants. During this era we know of ocean-going vessels owned by bishops of Iceland but the continuity of their operation is unclear and nothing is known of their crews.