Iceland in Tolkien's Work?

[davem]

Well, Icelanders weren't exactly 'expansionist' - for a lot of the time they were more concerned with simple survival. Another reason why the society was basically peaceful was that farms needed running & it was difficult to sustain violent feuds which cut individuals off from the rest of the community or risk alienating their neighbours (plus in such a small community most families tended to be related to each other to some degree). Icelanders were farmers first & foremost - but farmers with swords & a strong sense of personal honour. Their whole social & legal set up was designed to limit the effect of feuds & to solve disputes quickly & to the satisfation of all concerned. They did have slaves in the earlyier period, but slavery disappeared before too long - Freedmen could own land of their own once they'd been liberated. Slavery was often uneconomical - farming was often difficult & supporting a household plus slaves could be difficult, if not impossible - you'd free your slaves to avoid having to provide for them..

Expansionist??

Well, one problem was that Iceland didn't provide wood for shipbuilding (or much for building generally, & timber had to be imported. Young men might go off raiding & trading (homespun cloth was very a popular commodity), but the kind of life they lived made an expansionist attitude a no-no. They were basically peaceful farmers who tried every means to avoid conflict & resolve it peacfully, primarily because they didn't have the luxury to do much else. Iceland was effectively a big village. Violence did tend to explode & get dealt with quickly - except in extreme cases.