William Morris was plump, unfit and relatively untravelled but his enthusiasm, grit and phenomenal eye for detail sustained him for six weeks in 1871 and a further two in 1873 through 'the most romantic of all deserts'. He kept very few diaries and the Icelandic Journals are the most complete. Written daily, in pencil, in small black-covered notebooks, they are unguarded, spontaneous and by turn discouraged and excited. He records wild flowers and wilder landscapes, spectacular sunsets, vast expanses of lava, magnificent waterfalls, dangerous tracks and rivers. He grew to love his indomitable ponies, bringing one back to England for his daughters. And he loved the Icelanders: priests, farmers, scholars and children. Their kindness, generosity and hospitality - despite their poverty - moved him greatly and had a profound effect on his political thinking. His journey included visits to many of the main Saga sites - a route that is still followed by lovers of Iceland and William Morris.

Sir Joseph Banks was one of the great figures of Georgian England, best known for participating as naturalist in Cook's Endeavour voyage (1768-71), as a patron of science and as the longest-serving President of the Royal Society (1778-1820). This volume brings together all Banks's papers concerning Iceland and the North Atlantic, scattered in repositories in Britain, the United States, Australia and Denmark, and most published here for the first time. A detailed introduction places them in historical context.

Originally published in 1957. Stefán Einarsson covers almost a thousand years of Icelandic literature in tracing the influence of the sagas and eddic poems. The book begins with background on Icelandic literature, outlining its literary roots in Scandinavia. Following this, Einarsson provides a thorough survey of Icelandic literature through the 1950s.

He observes their crops, including the constant presence of angelica in their gardens, though he never finds what it is for. Their kindness, generosity and hospitality despite common poverty moved him greatly; the Icelandic experience had a profound influence on his political thinking: 'the most grinding poverty is a trifling evil compared to the inequality of classes'. Morris had translated several Sagas by 1871 and was teaching himself Icelandic. His journey, with his co-translator, Eirikr Magnusson, was routed around many of the main Saga sites - a journey that is still taken by lovers of Iceland and William Morris.

This cultural and environmental history sweeps across the dramatic North Atlantic landscape, exploring its unusual geology, saga narratives, language, culture, and politics and analyzing its emergence as a distinctive and symbolic part of Europe. The book closes with a discussion of Iceland's modern whaling practices and its recent financial collapse.