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Document Details :

Title: Place-Names at Boundaries in Iceland
Author(s): SIGMUNDSSON, Svavar
Journal: Onoma
Volume: 37    Date: 2002   
Pages: 193-203
DOI: 10.2143/ONO.37.0.519192

Abstract :
Examining boundary place-names as they are found across Iceland today and as they have been referenced in the earliest extant Icelandic sources, this article provides insight to the methods used for the claiming, marking, and consecration of land by the first settlers of this northern Atlantic island more than one thousand years ago. For comparison, it also points out parallels between similar words and practices that can be found in other countries. The author believes that a more careful consideration of all boundary place-names in Iceland could likely shed more detailed light on how the early settlers of the country determined their claims and hallowed them, keeping in mind that the heathen roots of the original names could now be distorted by time and association with more recent events.

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