Ancient origins
Reykjavik’s cultural history The Reykjavík City Museum incorporates five individual exhibition centers: the Árbær Open Air Museum, the Settlement Exhibition, the Reykjavík Maritime Museum, the Reykjavík Museum of Photography and Viðey Island.
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he main purpose of the Reykjavík City Museum is to preserve the city’s cultural heritage and to re present to the general public how it has evolved from the time of the settle ment to the present day. A new exhibition of ancient manuscripts On March 21, the Reykjavík City Museum presented a new exhibition, the Settlement Sagas. The central feature of this new exhibition are some of the nation’s great est treasures, ancient manuscripts that are usually kept under lock and key at The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. For the first time these items, which tell us so much about Reykjavík’s past, have been put on public display. The exhibition is in the same building as the Settlement Exhibition so visitors will be able to view the manuscripts alongside various other artefacts that have been discovered in the Reykjavík area and therefore attain a better understanding of their significance within the wider context of the history of the settlement. In short, this is a unique opportunity to look back in time at the beginnings and development of Iceland’s capital city over a period of more than a millennium. Literary heritage The Settlement Sagas comprises some of the nation’s most renowned docu ments, many of them written in the twelfth century but relating events that go back as far as 874 AD, when the first settlers are said to have come to Iceland. Recognized by the International World Heritage Program as having outstanding cultural value, the documents on display include: Landnámabók (the Book of the Settlement), Íslendingabók, Kjalnesinga saga, Jónsbók and the Bill of Purchase for Reykjavík (1615). It is precisely Iceland’s literary heritage that has preserved this ancient language and helps Icelanders remain in touch with the beginnings of our culture. Indeed, the Icelandic language is the very cornerstone of that legacy. These manuscripts have shaped our view of history and given us a unique basis from which to study both our origins as a nation and our long-standing relationship among the other Nordic
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WOW Power to the people
countries. The Settlement Exhibition focuses on the settlement of Iceland in 874 AD and the first few decades after that. The artefacts there provide an invaluable insight into the life and times of the first people to inhabit the Reykjavík area and the ways in which they adapted to their new environment. The exhibition is founded on archaeological and other scientific research and introduces visitors to the latest facts and interpretations forwarded by a range of experts who have concentrated on this period of our history. These two very different exhibitions hosted by the Reykjavík City Museum afford an unprecedented view into the ancient origins of Icelandic culture. One is based on archaeological findings from the
On March 21, the Reykjavík City Museum presented a new exhibition, the Settlement Sagas. The central feature of this new exhibition are some of the nation’s greatest treasures, ancient manuscripts that are usually kept under lock and key at The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies.
days of the settlement and the other on ancient documents from the same period. This is also the first time Iceland’s literary heritage and archaeological history have been placed side by side for the general public. In addition, the preservation of these precious manuscripts is one of the reasons why UNESCO officially designated Reykjavík as one of its Cities of Literature in 2011. v
The Settlement Exhibition Open: Daily from 9 AM to 8 PM / Aðalstræti 16 / 101 Reykjavik www.reykjavikcitymuseum.