Overview
About National Museum of Iceland
History through material evidence
Making of a Nation places artefacts within a chronological account of Icelandic society. Early settlement, religious change, farming, craft production and the development of national institutions provide context for the objects. The collection allows visitors to connect broad historical developments with smaller evidence of how people dressed, worked, worshipped and represented their world.
The Eyrarland figure
One prominent object is a bronze figure from Eyrarland in Eyjafjörður, dated to around AD 1000 and traditionally identified as Þór holding his hammer. Only 6.7 centimetres tall, it raises questions about religious imagery around the conversion period; the hammer's cross-like shape has prompted discussion of pagan and Christian influences. The figure returned from Copenhagen to Iceland in 1930.
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