(Icelandic: "landtaking", derived from land, "land" + nám, "taking, seizure")
Nordic term for the settlement of hitherto unoccupied land (what would be called "virgin soil", in the terminology of the much later colonial age), especially the colonisation of Iceland from Norway, in the period from the end of the 9th century to 930, the so-called landnám period.
The total immigration to Iceland from Norway during this period is unknown, but estimated at 10-20,000. At the time of settlement, Iceland had only been occupied by a few wandering Irish monks. Iceland in this period was much more fertile than later, because the native brush had not yet been cleared (with resulting erosion and drastic decrease in soil fertility).