Why is Iceland green and Greenland icy?

Answer 1

Good question...

Iceland is, relative to other European nations, very icy and so it would have seemed the most obvious name to it's 10th century Scandinavian settlers. Vatnajökull ice cap, for example, has more ice than all the glaciers of continental europe put together!

Greenland was reputedly so named by it's discoverer, the viking Eric the Red, to make it sound more pleasant (although this may just be folklore). He was exiled from Iceland for manslaughter, and so must have wanted to make his new settlement sound more attractive than that of his erstwhile enemies!

Answer 2

Iceland And Greenland

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why is Iceland green and Greenland icy?

Answer 4

When settlers first went to Iceland they liked what they saw, however they didn't want a lot of other people there so they sent word back to Europe that the land was very cold and ice covered a lot of the land, which was not true. It was very green. To help their cause even more, they sent word back that Greenland was just that, green, which it was not, for it was mostly ice. Travel in those days was slow, compared to today, So for many years Iceland was thought of as a not so nice place to be. By the way Iceland is the home of some of the most beautiful and healthy people in the world.

Answer 5

One of the first things the vikings will have seen when they came to Iceland was a huge glacier, and although parts of Iceland are indeed green, many places are not. The climate at the time of the vikings was quite mild, so Greenland was warmer than today, making some areas in Greenland green - and why not use a bit of good old advertizing to attract more people too :-) Actually parts of Greenland are still pretty green today.

Answer 6

Iceland was rumored to be named "Iceland" because there was more ice there than in the lands that the settlers came from. Ireland, Scandinavia, and Scotland.
Greenland was named "Greenland" according to legend, by Erik the Red, (Father of Leif Ericson) in an effort to get people to settle there.
There was a great show on the Discovery channel all about the vikings, Leif Ericson, and the settlement of Iceland, Greenland, and America by the vikings.

Answer 7

Afraid that their enemies might pursue them, they sent word back to Norway that their island was actually an ice-land, but that another island — more distant, larger and indeed covered by ice — was inhabitable green-land. And so the green island became Iceland, and the icy island became Greenland.

Answer 8

the vikings found iceland whent it was all snowy and some ot them wanted to name iceland snowland but they ended up with iceland. greenland has the name greenland becouse Eiríkur Rauði wanted ppl to come to green land when Eiríkur Rauði found greenland

Answer 9

Vikings got drunk every now and then. Irish and Scottish people were decedents of vikings (which is were the alcohol thing came from) and probably drunk when they found Iceland and Greenland

Answer 10

when the explorers first landed in Iceland, it was a late spring and it was covered with ice yet so they called it Iceland. When they landed in Greenland, the land along the shores was thawing and some plants were growing so it seemed it would be greener