Iceland was settled by a mixed stock of
Norsemen from Scandinavia and Celts from the British Isles. The ruling class was
Nordic, so that both the language and culture of Iceland were purely
Scandinavian from the outset, but there are traces of Celtic influence in some of the Eddaic poems, in names and in the appearance of present day
Icelanders who have a higher percentage of the dark-haired type than the other
Nordic nations.