Why Greenland Is Ice and Iceland Is Green Name MixUp HistoryTime

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Why is Greenland called Greenland when it is 80% made up of glaciers and almost completely covered in ice? And why is Iceland, famous for its green landscapes and hot springs, called Iceland? It seems like these names were mixed up.

[00:00:14]Well, it was actually a Viking trick. In the 9th century, Norwegian Vikings were the first to reach the shores of Iceland. It was winter, and as they saw nothing but ice and snow, they naturally named it Iceland. It was common for explorers to name new lands based on what they saw first. For example, Florida got its name from Spanish explorers, meaning land of flowers, because they arrived during a period of vigorous blooming. Sometime later, when Iceland became populated, one of the Vikings, known as Eric the Red, was exiled from the island for his crimes.

[00:00:44]In search of new lands, he headed west and came across a massive icy island.

[00:00:49]Realizing that it would be difficult to attract settlers to the island, he used a clever trick and named it Greenland, the opposite of what it actually was, to make the name sound attractive to new inhabitants.