Another dark night to add to Iceland’s stormy saga

Iceland traces its history from the arrival of the first settler, a Norwegian chieftain called Ingolfor Arnarson, who landed in 874 as part of the great migrations that brought the Vikings to Britain. In the next few decades, more Viking chiefs joined him, accompanied by Scottish and Irish slaves captured in raids on the British Isles.

While the Anglo-Saxons were desperately fighting off Viking incursions into England, the Icelandic settlers were building their new commonwealth. And in 930 the ruling chiefs convened an assembly called the Althing — the world's first parliament, 300 years before our own.

Meanwhile, Icelandic poets were compiling one of the great treasures of world literature, the epic sagas that tell of settlers, warriors and heroes, as well as Norse gods such as Odin, Freya and Thor. They have been an inspiration for English writers ever since, above all JRR Tolkien, who borrowed their elves, dwarves and giants for his Middle-Earth stories.

In the Middle Ages, Iceland passed into the control of the kings of first Norway and then Denmark. Yet while its historic independence was lost, its culture survived, and by the 18th century it was winning admirers among London's Romantic poets.

The Poet Laureate Thomas Warton, for example, wrote "Runic Odes" extolling the virtues of the ancient Icelandic heroes. And in the 1780s, the Danish government even considered offering Iceland to the British in exchange for the Caribbean Crab Island, though the deal came to nothing.

But Britain did get its hands on Iceland eventually. On 10 May 1940, the day that Churchill became prime minister, British Marines landed in Reykjavik, launching a controversial invasion.

Technically Iceland was neutral, but with Nazi troops already in Denmark and Norway, Britain could take no chances. Astonishingly, it took just 746 raw recruits to occupy the island — and the only casualty was a marine who committed suicide on the way there because he was suffering so badly from seasickness.

In recent years, however, Iceland has been on the front foot. In the 1950s and 1970s its fishermen clashed with British ships in the three Cod Wars, and in recent years its bankers have invaded our high streets with the audacity and vigour of their Viking forefathers. But the coming months threaten to be rough for the little island republic — and its people may need all their Nordic stoicism to survive.