Meet the Middle Ages
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Most Icelanders lived on their own farms. These farms lay far apart. The peasants made a living from sheep farming and fishing. The trade with wool and dried fish was mainly taken care of by the German merchants in Bergen, Norway. The first people to arrive in Iceland in the middle of the 9th century were Norwegians. In the middle of the 13th century, the Icelanders decided that they should be part of Norway. Towards the end of the 14th century, the Danes increased their influence in Iceland.