Hrafna-Flóki: The Raven-Finder Who Named Iceland

The story of Hrafna-Flóki belongs to the first generation of Norse exploration in the North Atlantic. During the ninth century, Scandinavian sailors were moving progressively farther west from Norway, establishing settlements and maritime connections across Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides and the Faroe Islands. Beyond these islands lay Iceland, a large landmass that would become one of the most important destinations of Norse expansion.

Flóki Vilgerðarson was not the first Norseman to encounter Iceland. The medieval Icelandic tradition preserves accounts of earlier voyages, particularly those of Naddodd and Garðar Svavarsson. Naddodd is said to have encountered the island while sailing from the Faroe Islands, while Garðar later circumnavigated much of it and established that it was an island. The country was consequently known in the tradition as Garðarshólmur, “Garðar's Island,” before it acquired the name Ísland.

Flóki's significance lies in the deliberate nature of his expedition. According to Landnámabók, the Book of Settlements, he sailed specifically in search of the land about which reports had reached Norway. His voyage therefore belonged to a transitional stage in Norse expansion, when Iceland was moving from the realm of distant geographical knowledge into the practical world of exploration and settlement.

Garðarshólmur and the First Voyages

The name associated with Iceland before its permanent settlement was Garðarshólmur, usually understood as “Garðar's Island,” after Garðar Svavarsson. According to Landnámabók, Garðar circumnavigated much of the island after being blown there and established that it was indeed an island. Naddodd, another early voyager, also encountered the country before returning to Scandinavia. These accounts are preserved in sources written centuries after the events, but they reflect a broader historical reality: Norse sailors were exploring the North Atlantic and acquiring knowledge of its islands during the ninth century.

A map indicating the travels of the first Scandinavians in Iceland during the 9th century (Illustration: Max Naylor)

Flóki's voyage was consequently not an isolated act of discovery. He was following a maritime route that had already been opened by earlier voyages, but his expedition differed in purpose. According to the settlement tradition, he did not merely encounter Iceland accidentally. He deliberately sailed westward to find the land he had heard about, intending to establish himself there.

Flóki Vilgerðarson Sets Sail

Landnámabók identifies the explorer as Flóki Vilgerðarson and describes him as a “mikill víkingur,” conventionally translated as a great or prominent Viking. His exact birth date is unknown, but he belonged to the generation of Norsemen active during the ninth-century expansion across the North Atlantic.

The account says that Flóki departed from a location known as Flókavarði, where Hordaland and Rogaland met in southwestern Norway. His objective was to find Garðarshólmur, the land previously encountered by other voyagers.

Flóki did not make the journey alone. His companions included Þórólfr, a bóndi or farmer, Herjólfur and a man named Faxi, who is described as being from the Hebrides. The composition of the group is significant because it reflects the character of Norse expansion into the North Atlantic. These were not simply sailors interested in seeing distant lands; they were people with the agricultural and maritime skills necessary to consider permanent settlement.

The Voyage to Shetland

Flóki first sailed to Shetland, where the expedition stayed at a place called Flókavogur. Shetland was already deeply integrated into the Scandinavian maritime world by this period and provided a natural stage in voyages between Norway and the western islands.

The stay was marked by tragedy. According to Landnámabók, Flóki's daughter Geirhildr drowned in a body of water called Geirhildarvatn. From Shetland, the expedition continued westward towards the country they had set out to find.

The surviving account gives no precise year for the voyage. Modern discussions generally place Flóki's first stay in Iceland somewhere around the 860s, with the Icelandic Environment Agency giving approximately 860–870 as the likely period if the traditional account is accepted.

The Three Ravens

The most famous episode of Flóki's voyage concerns the three ravens from which his later epithet, Hrafna-Flóki, derives.

According to Landnámabók, Flóki carried three ravens aboard his ship and released them one at a time while sailing across the North Atlantic. The first flew back over the stern towards the direction from which they had come. The second rose into the air before returning to the ship. The third, however, flew forward in the direction of land.

Flóki followed the third raven and eventually reached Iceland. The episode is one of the most memorable stories associated with the early exploration of the island, and it explains the epithet Hrafna-Flóki, meaning “Raven-Flóki.”

Skåne Raven Mjölnir - Historical Thor's Hammer Replica

The account also fits within the practical realities of early North Atlantic navigation. Sailors operating far from land had to make use of environmental observations, including the behaviour of birds, weather, currents and celestial bodies. Birds could provide useful indications of nearby land, although the precise circumstances of Flóki's raven experiment cannot be independently verified.

The literary form of the episode must also be treated with some caution. The use of birds to search for land has parallels in earlier literature, most famously the biblical story of Noah sending birds from the ark. That resemblance means the medieval account may have been shaped by established literary traditions. It does not, however, provide evidence that Flóki himself was fictional or that the expedition never occurred. The historical evidence for Flóki comes primarily from the much later Icelandic settlement tradition rather than contemporary ninth-century documentation. 

Finding Iceland

After reaching Iceland, Flóki's expedition sailed along the coastline. Landnámabók describes them arriving from the east at Horn and then sailing around the southern coast.

As they continued westward past Reykjanes and towards Snæfellsnes, Faxi reportedly remarked that they had discovered a substantial country, pointing out its large rivers. The place where he made the observation became associated with his name. The bay west of modern Reykjavík is known today as Faxaflói, or Faxi's Bay.

The expedition then crossed Breiðafjörður and reached Vatnsfjörður, on the Barðaströnd coast of the Westfjords. This became the most important location in the story of Flóki's first attempt to settle Iceland.

The First Winter at Vatnsfjörður

A Settlement Unprepared for Icelandic Winter

Vatnsfjörður offered an important natural resource: fish. Flóki and his companions concentrated heavily on fishing, apparently with considerable success.

The problem came with their livestock.

According to Landnámabók, the settlers failed to gather enough hay for their sheep before winter. When the harsh season arrived, the animals died. The failure was devastating because livestock were fundamental to a Norse farming economy. Sheep and cattle provided meat, milk, wool, hides and other resources, while hay was essential for maintaining herds through the Icelandic winter.

Archaeological excavations in Vatnsfjörður in the Vatnsfjörður fjord (Photo: Christian Bickel Finaglo CC BY-SA 2.0)

The episode provides a particularly useful illustration of the challenges faced by the earliest Norse explorers. Iceland was not simply another Norwegian farming district. Its climate, seasonal conditions and available resources differed substantially from those of the settlers' homelands. Successful colonisation required knowledge of how to combine agriculture with the island's exceptional marine resources.

Flóki's first expedition therefore failed as a settlement attempt even though the country itself offered abundant food. His men had found fish but had not adequately prepared for winter.

The Discovery of the Ice

When spring arrived, Flóki climbed a mountain overlooking the surrounding country. From the summit he looked northward and saw a fjord filled with sea ice.

The sight gave the country its new name.

According to the traditional account, Flóki called the land Ísland, meaning “Ice Land.” The name subsequently became permanent. The Icelandic Environment Agency records the tradition that the mountain may have been Lónfell, although this identification is not certain.

The naming episode is one of the most enduring elements of Flóki's story. Unlike the precise circumstances of the raven episode or the identity of the mountain from which he supposedly viewed the ice, the name Ísland itself is an established geographical fact that has survived for more than a millennium.

The Return to Norway

Flóki eventually abandoned his first attempt at settlement and returned to Norway. His expedition had spent a winter in Iceland, but the experience had not convinced him that the country was an easy place to establish a farm.

The Icelandic tradition preserves contrasting reactions among the members of the expedition. Flóki reportedly spoke poorly of Iceland after returning to Norway. Herjólfur gave a more balanced assessment, describing both advantages and disadvantages. Þórólfr, however, offered a remarkably positive judgement.

According to Landnámabók, Þórólfr said that butter seemed to drip from every blade of grass in the country. As a result, he became known as Þórólfr smjör, “Þórólfr Butter.”

The contrast is revealing. The same landscape could appear harsh and inhospitable to someone who had lost his livestock during winter while appearing extraordinarily fertile to another observer. Iceland's eventual settlement depended upon precisely this distinction: the country was difficult, but it contained substantial agricultural and marine resources for communities that understood how to exploit them.

Norse Viking Drakkar Longship Ring

Flóki Returns to Iceland

Flóki did not permanently abandon Iceland after his first unsuccessful expedition.

The settlement tradition records that he later returned and established himself in northern Iceland, in the region of Skagafjörður. The valley known as Flókadalur preserves his name, and the tradition associates the area with his later settlement.

Store norske leksikon identifies Flóki as one of the early settlers of Iceland and records his later settlement at Flókadalur. The valley lies in northern Iceland near Haganesvík, on the eastern side of Skagafjörður.

A speculative nineteenth-century depiction of Norsemen landing in Iceland in 872 (Painting by Oscar Wergeland)

This second phase of Flóki's career is important because it places him within the broader settlement process rather than simply portraying him as an unsuccessful explorer. His first winter had demonstrated the difficulties of Icelandic settlement, but his eventual return indicates that the experience did not convince him that the country was uninhabitable.

Permanent Norse settlement began soon afterwards. The traditional chronology places the main settlement period from around 870 onwards, with Ingólfr Arnarson traditionally regarded as one of the first permanent settlers, conventionally dated to 874.

Flókatóftir and the Archaeological Evidence

One of the most important pieces of physical evidence associated with Flóki is found at Flókatóftir, near Brjánslækur in Vatnsfjörður.

The ruins have long been identified in Icelandic tradition with the winter camp described in Landnámabók. Their name itself means approximately “Flóki's ruins.” The site was formally protected in 1930 and has subsequently been investigated by Icelandic archaeologists.

For many years, Flókatóftir were treated as the remains of Flóki's settlement. Modern archaeology has produced a more complicated picture.

The Icelandic Cultural Heritage Agency records thirteen archaeological features at the site. Features 1–6 constitute the principal ruins traditionally known as Flókatóftir, while features 11–13 are interpreted as pits that may correspond to cooking or processing features. Other remains belong to a much later settlement known as Grund, which was established around 1900 and abandoned around 1930. A boathouse at the site dates from approximately 1940.

This distinction is important because not everything visible at Flókatóftir belongs to the Viking Age.

Dating the Ruins

Archaeological investigation has produced evidence for more than one period of occupation.

Excavations and investigations were carried out at the site during the nineteenth century and later by Icelandic archaeologists, including Kristján Eldjárn. Eldjárn questioned whether the ruins were as old as traditionally believed.

More recent investigations in 2004 and 2012 provided radiocarbon samples from two structures. One sample from feature 4 produced a date in the ninth to tenth centuries, while another from feature 6 produced a date in the eleventh to twelfth centuries.

The results are significant because they show that the surviving ruins do not represent a single phase of occupation. At least some of the remains are considerably later than the period traditionally associated with Flóki.

The archaeological evidence therefore supports an important part of the traditional chronology while also limiting what can be claimed. A ninth- or tenth-century structure at Flókatóftir is compatible with the account of Flóki's winter stay, but archaeology cannot demonstrate that Flóki personally built a particular wall or occupied a particular structure.

The Icelandic Cultural Heritage Agency consequently describes the history of the site as more complicated than earlier interpretations suggested.

What Can Be Established About Hrafna-Flóki?

The central difficulty in reconstructing Flóki's life is the distance between the events themselves and the surviving written sources.

Landnámabók was compiled in medieval Iceland centuries after the settlement period. It preserves traditions concerning the early settlers, their families, journeys and territories, but it is not a contemporary ninth-century record. The story of Flóki therefore cannot be treated in exactly the same way as an event recorded by a contemporary chronicler.

At the same time, the source contains an unusually detailed geographical framework. Flóki's story is associated with real locations including Shetland, Reykjanes, Snæfellsnes, Faxaflói, Breiðafjörður, Vatnsfjörður and Skagafjörður. Several of these places also preserve names connected by tradition with the expedition.

Archaeology independently confirms that there was Norse occupation in the Westfjords during the period relevant to the settlement of Iceland. The ninth- to tenth-century dating of one structure at Flókatóftir is consistent with the traditional chronology of Flóki's first winter, although it cannot establish his personal presence at the site.

The most defensible historical picture is therefore that Flóki Vilgerðarson belongs to the early Norse exploration and settlement tradition of Iceland, while some individual details of his story remain impossible to verify independently.

The Importance of the Flóki Tradition

Flóki's story occupies an important position between exploration and settlement.

Earlier voyagers had demonstrated that Iceland existed. Flóki's expedition represents the next stage: deliberate travel to the island with the intention of investigating its potential for settlement. His first winter demonstrated the difficulties of adapting to the environment, while his later return forms part of the broader movement through which Iceland became a permanent Norse society.

His story also preserves the practical realities of early medieval exploration. The expedition depended on ships, livestock, fishing, fodder and knowledge of the landscape. The death of the animals during winter was not simply a dramatic episode; it illustrates one of the fundamental problems confronting settlers entering an unfamiliar environment.

The story's geographical legacy is equally substantial. Faxaflói preserves the name of Faxi, Flókadalur preserves Flóki's name, and Ísland remains the name of the country whose coastline he encountered.

Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson was one of the earliest Norse explorers associated with Iceland's settlement history. According to Landnámabók, he sailed from Norway in search of Garðarshólmur, crossed the North Atlantic with a small group of companions and three ravens, reached Iceland and spent his first winter at Vatnsfjörður. The loss of his livestock demonstrated the difficulties of settlement, while his reported sighting of a fjord filled with sea ice became associated with the name Ísland.

The archaeological evidence at Flókatóftir provides a valuable physical counterpart to the written tradition, confirming early medieval occupation in the area traditionally associated with Flóki while demonstrating that the surviving ruins represent several periods rather than a single settlement. Flóki's story therefore belongs to both the history of Norse expansion and the medieval Icelandic tradition through which that history was preserved. His voyage stands at an important point in the transformation of Iceland from a distant land known through scattered reports into a permanently settled Norse country.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Hrafna-Flóki?

Hrafna-Flóki was Flóki Vilgerðarson, a Norwegian Norse explorer associated with one of the earliest deliberate voyages to Iceland. He is primarily known through Landnámabók.

Why was Flóki called Hrafna-Flóki?

The name means “Raven-Flóki” and refers to the three ravens that, according to Landnámabók, he carried on his voyage and released to help locate land.

Did Flóki name Iceland?

According to Landnámabók, yes. After seeing a fjord filled with sea ice from a mountain, he called the country Ísland, meaning “Ice Land.”

Where did Flóki spend his first winter in Iceland?

The medieval tradition places him at Vatnsfjörður on Barðaströnd in the Westfjords. The archaeological site known as Flókatóftir has traditionally been identified with his winter camp.

Did Flóki eventually settle in Iceland?

Yes. The settlement tradition records that he later returned to Iceland and settled in the region of Skagafjörður in northern Iceland, where Flókadalur preserves his name.

References

Ari Þorgilsson. Íslendingabók. Early twelfth-century Icelandic history and settlement tradition.

Landnámabók (The Book of Settlements), especially Chapter 2, concerning Flóki Vilgerðarson and his voyage to Iceland. The surviving versions include Sturlubók, Hauksbók and material preserved in Melabók.