Martin Behaim 1492

Another name that appears in the historical accounts of the Icelandic sheepdog is Martin Behaim, and here I will briefly summarize a few words about him.

Martin Behaim (1459–1507) was a German cartographer, explorer, and merchant from Nuremberg. He is best known for having created the oldest surviving globe, the so-called "Erdapfel" (1492).

On the globe, all the known lands of the time are depicted, as they were before the discovery of America. Much is written on the globe about the countries, including a small note about Iceland. Iceland is placed north of the northwest corner of Scotland, a bit north of the Arctic Circle. It is oval-shaped with small indentations here and there. Next to the country, the following is written in German: "In Iceland, there are beautifully white people, and they are Christian. They are accustomed to selling their dogs for high prices, but they give their children to merchants for free, so that others may provide for them. In Iceland, there are also octogenarians who have never tasted bread; no grain grows there, and instead of bread, people eat dried fish. In Iceland, you can find stockfish, which is exported to our country."

Source: Landfræðisaga Íslands. Eptir Þorvald Thoroddsen.