Which Viking-founded settlement became the capital of Iceland?

The Viking-founded settlement that became Iceland’s capital was Reykjavík.

According to the medieval Icelandic settlement tradition, Ingólfur Arnarson established his farm at Reykjavík around 874. The name means “Smoky Bay,” probably referring to steam rising from nearby geothermal springs. Reykjavík began as a rural farmstead rather than a planned town or royal centre.

Iceland was settled largely by Norse migrants from Norway, together with people from Norse communities in the British Isles. The settlers organized the Alþingi, or national assembly, at Þingvellir in 930, while Reykjavík remained a small agricultural settlement for centuries.

Modern Reykjavík developed much later. A trading post was established there in the eighteenth century, and the settlement grew into Iceland’s main urban centre. It became the country’s capital when Iceland gained home rule in 1904. The settlement tradition is useful evidence, but some details in the medieval accounts cannot be independently verified.