A latecomer crosses the heath, loses his axe in the river at Þingvellir, and hides a hoard of silver that has never been found. I'm Rob, your host, and this is Iceland Daily and the Sagas, your morning walk through Iceland today and its medieval sagas. First, two stories from Iceland: Iceland-founded shipping and logistics company Samskip agrees to be acquired by Spain's Boluda Shipping, creating a short-sea network of 32 ships on 18 routes (Samskip, Iceland Review); and a mother and son from Iceland who took their love of jigsaw puzzles to the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Spain (mbl.is). Then our theme: friendship under pressure. Ketilbjörn the Old arrives late in his ship Elliði, spends his first winter with his in-laws, and crosses the heath to name Skálabrekka, Öxará and Reyðarmúli. He takes Grímsnes, Laugardalur and Biskupstungur, settles at Mosfell, and hides his silver on the mountain when his sons refuse to forge a silver temple beam. His half-brother Hallkell refuses his gift of land and fights a duel for land instead, and two latecomers find the land he gave them too small. We compare Hauksbók, Sturlubók and Íslendingabók, follow Ketilbjörn's line to Gissur the White and the first bishops of Skálholt, and visit Þingvellir, Mosfell and Skálholt. Monday: a man called Mörður Fiddle answers a killing with three marriages, and one of them leads to Gunnar of Hlíðarendi.

A widow builds a ship in secret, sails to Iceland, and plans her own funeral feast, and her family still ends up quarrelling over her land. I'm Rob, your host, and this is Iceland Daily and the Sagas, your morning walk through Iceland today and its medieval sagas. First, three stories from Iceland: the 2,000-tonne deck of the new Ölfusá bridge at Selfoss is being pulled across the river, half a metre at a time (Vegagerðin, RÚV); record investment of about 57 billion krónur in Icelandic data centres this year (RÚV, mbl.is); and an Oktoberfest with craft beer from around Iceland at Lake Mývatn this weekend (mbl.is, Mývatn Öl). Then our theme: a contested inheritance. Auður the Deep-Minded, widow of a king of Dublin, has a trading ship built in a Scottish forest, sails by way of Orkney and the Faroes with Scottish and Irish freedmen aboard, is turned away by her stingy brother Helgi and welcomed by her brother Björn, loses her comb at Kambsnes, and settles at Hvammur. A generation later, Kambsnes is the land two of her great-grandsons fight over. We compare Hauksbók, Sturlubók, Laxdæla saga and Íslendingabók on her gifts of land, her Christian shoreline grave or pagan ship burial, and the feud between Höskuldur and Hrútur, and visit Hvammur, Krosshólar and Kambsnes. Tomorrow: Ketilbjörn the Old crosses the heath, loses his axe in the river at Þingvellir, and hides a hoard of silver that has never been found.

Two cousins, one pagan and one Christian, settle side by side below Mount Esja.

I'm Rob, your host, and this is Iceland Daily and the Sagas, your morning walk through Iceland today and its medieval sagas.

First, three stories from Iceland: Air China's first scheduled flight from Beijing lands at Keflavík, Iceland's first scheduled link to mainland China (Keflavík Airport, Iceland Review); tourism turnover reached 252 billion krónur in July and August, up about 7% (Statistics Iceland); and Reykjavík Opera Days celebrates its tenth year, with opera in swimming pools and on the city pond (Óperudagar, Harpa).

Then our theme: an argument at the assembly, or rather an alliance. Helgi bjóla takes all of Kjalarnes and lives at Hof, the Temple farm. His cousin Örlygur, fostered by a Bishop Patrick in the Hebrides, sails with church timber, an iron bell and holy earth, names Patreksfjörður after the bishop in a storm while his foster brother Kollur calls on Thor and is wrecked at Kollsvík, and builds a church to Saint Columba at Esjuberg on Helgi's advice.

We compare Hauksbók, Sturlubók, Þórðarbók and Íslendingabók on the three mountains or two, the floating bell, Kollur's prayer and the two cousins as advisers to the Kjalarnes assembly, and visit Esjuberg, Patreksfjörður and Örlygshöfn.

The first land sale in the sagas: a settler who sold his farm in the far east of Iceland to follow his high-seat pillars west.

I'm Rob, your host, and this is Iceland Daily and the Sagas, your morning walk through Iceland today and its medieval sagas.

First, three stories from Iceland: Icelandair reports the highest third-quarter revenue in its history, with more passengers flying to Iceland (Iceland Review, RÚV, Icelandair); salmon anglers had a bumper summer, with more than 46,000 fish caught, up 35% on last year (Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, RÚV); and volunteers in Selfoss have turned an old potato store into an arts and cultural centre (RÚV).

Then our theme: the household economy. Ingólfur shares out his vast land claim. Þórður the Shaggy leaves his farm in Lón, sells it to Úlfljótur the lawgiver and moves west with all his possessions to settle between Úlfarsá and Leiruvogur on Ingólfur's advice, while his neighbour Hallur the Godless refuses to sacrifice and trusts his own strength.

We compare Hauksbók, Sturlubók and Íslendingabók on the sale, the years in Lón and Hallur's father, and visit the excavated Viking Age longhouse at Hrísbrú in Mosfellsdalur and the old harbour at Leiruvogur.

Tomorrow: Helgi bjóla at Hof, and Örlygur's voyage with church timber, an iron bell and holy earth to build a church below Mount Esja.

Before Iceland had a national assembly, it had a local one, and the man who founded it was the son of the first settler. I'm Rob, your host, and this is Iceland Daily and the Sagas, your morning walk through Iceland today and its medieval sagas. First, three stories from Iceland's business and travel life: Air China launches its first scheduled service between Beijing and Keflavík via Copenhagen on 26 October, three times a week, as reported by Iceland Monitor; the Port of Aberdeen and Múlaþing are in early talks on a ferry between Scotland and Seyðisfjörður (Iceland Review, The Scotsman); and ON Power's Hellisheiði geothermal plant, Iceland's largest, turns 20, with an open house on Saturday 24 October. Then our theme: rival versions of an event. Ingólfur marries Hallveig Fróðadóttir, and their son Þorsteinn sets up the assembly at Kjalarnes. Ari the Learned tells how Úlfljótur brought law to Iceland, how his foster brother Grímur explored the whole island, and how the land at Bláskógar became common property after a man was outlawed for killing a slave or freedman who gave his name to Kolsgjá. We compare Sturlubók, Þórðarbók and Íslendingabók on who founded what, and visit Kjalarnes under Mount Esja, the disputed ruins at Þingnes by Elliðavatn, and Þingvellir. Monday: how Ingólfur shared out his vast land claim, and the settler who sold his eastern farm to Úlfljótur to follow his own high-seat pillars.

A lament over a foster brother's body. A hunt across the sea. And a group of islands that still carry the name of the men who died there.

I'm Rob, your host, and this is Iceland Daily and the Sagas, your morning walk through Iceland today and its medieval sagas.

First, three stories about getting around, and getting help, in Iceland: Heimaey in the Westman Islands is suggested as a testing ground for self-driving vehicles, as reported by Iceland Review and Vísir; the airline Arkia plans the first nonstop flights between Israel and Keflavík from June 2027; and Iceland's 112 emergency line reports around twenty satellite SOS cases since the summer, mostly from the highlands, as reported by Vísir.

Then our theme for the day: a consequential encounter. Ingólfur finds Hjörleifur dead at Hjörleifshöfði and speaks his famous verdict on those who will not sacrifice. He looks out from the headland, hunts the runaway Irish slaves to Eið, and Dufþaksskor and Vestmannaeyjar, the Islands of the Western Men, take their names.

We compare Sturlubók's grave with Hauksbók's funeral, the Þórðarbók note on Ingólfur's burial at Ingólfsfell, and Ari the Learned's Íslendingabók, which says nothing of any of it. And we step into the landscape: the tradition of Hjörleifshaugur, the debated excavation at Herjólfsdalur, and the 1973 Eldfell eruption on Heimaey.

Tomorrow: where Ingólfur's high-seat pillars finally came ashore, how that place became Reykjavík, and why one of his slaves thought the whole voyage

had been for nothing.