Below is an overview of databases maintained by MSHL and its member institutions, including access details. Additional information is provided on other relevant databases managed by external organisations.
The databases are categorised by the hosting institution.
Texts, Translations, Editions
Bækur.is
At Bækur.is, you can browse and search for digital reproductions of old Icelandic books.
The goal is to provide access to all Icelandic books published prior to 1870 as digital reproductions.
Handrit.is
Handrit.is provides access to a number of manuscripts from different periods. The oldest ones are vellum manuscripts from the 12th century, while the youngest ones from the 20th century are written on paper.
This database was supported by the Infrastructure Fund.
Tímarit.is
Tímarit.is is a digital archive that provides access to millions of digitally generated pages of the printed cultural heritage preserved in newspapers and magazines from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland.
Maps of Iceland
The National and University Library of Iceland offers maps of Iceland online, including those from the University of Iceland, geographer Thorvaldur Thoroddsen, the Danish General Staff and Geodetic Institute (early 20th century), and the U.S. Army Map Service (1948-1951).
Translated sagas
This catalogue is intended to cover all available translations of sagas and þættir of Icelanders, Eddic poetry, bishops’ sagas, legendary sagas, chivalric sagas and kings’ sagas.
Audio and Video Data
Sound Archive
The Sound Archive consists of digital copies of commercially published Icelandic sound recordings along with interviews archived by the Centre of Oral History.
The Sound Archive is not exhaustive but digital conversion is ongoing.
Ísland á filmu
The Icelandic Film Archive database provides access to Icelandic films from the beginning, both documentaries and other material.
The digitisation of Icelandic documentaries up to 1935 was funded by the Infrastructure Fund.
Ísmús
Ísmús – Icelandic musical and cultural heritage – is a database that stores Icelandic cultural data from the past and present: recordings, photographs, films, manuscripts and texts.
The development of speech recognition for Ísmús was supported by the Infrastructure Fund.
Reykjavík Museum of Photography
The Reykjavík Museum of Photography is one of the most important venues for contemporary photography in Iceland, both as a historical museum and a preservation site.
The museum contains photographs from 1860 to the present day.
University of Iceland Photo Gallery
The University of Iceland Photo Gallery provides access to a collection of photographs related to the university’s activities and buildings.
RÚV Archive
In the RÚV Archive, you can explore a unique database of Icelandic cultural content from both television and radio. The archive is only accessible at RÚV in Efstaleiti.
Work is underway to improve digital access while respecting copyright and data protection.
Digitalisation efforts at RÚV have been supported by the Infrastructure Fund.
Art Galleries
The National Gallery of Iceland
Digital collection of the National Gallery of Iceland (also accessible via sarpur.is). The collection contains about 16.000 works.
University of Iceland Art Gallery
Provides access to around 1.500 artworks, sketches and metadata on Icelandic art.
Historical Databases
1703
The database contains interconnected and geographically coordinated information about the country’s population, families, households, lands and livestock. The information is mainly obtained from the 1703 census, the 1703 livestock census and the Land Register of Árni Magnússon and Páll Vídalín 1702–1714.
Inheritance and Estates
The database includes probate records, estate inventories, and auctions from the 18th and 19th centuries, preserved in the National Archives of Iceland. It also contains various documents related to personal property, such as those concerning divorces and bankruptcies.
Court and Settlement Records
The database includes recorded content from 717 district magistrates’ court and session books, as well as 236 settlement books.
Orðabelgur
Orðabelgur is a digital lexicon of words, concepts, and historical institutions, providing explanations of their meanings, history, and significance. The database currently contains over 3.000 entries.
The National Archives Register
The National Archives of Iceland Register contains information on documented archival collections preserved at the National Archives. Approximately three-quarters of the total collection is included, with over 1.2 million entries.
Parish Censuses
Parish censuses are records of residents within a church parish. One of the official duties of priests was to travel annually through their parish(es), conduct a census, monitor children’s education and upbringing, observe parishioners’ behaviour, and record the ownership of religious books.
Historical Farm and People Registry
The database links personal and town names between censuses from 1703 to 1920. There are also connections to other digital databases through personal and town names.
Kvennaspor
Kvennaspor, a collaboration between Árnastofnun and the Iceland Academy of the Arts, explores women’s connections to the Icelandic landscape through medieval narratives, place names, and historical travel accounts. Combining humanities and arts research, it applies interdisciplinary methods such as literary analysis, digital mapping, and archival research to uncover how women have been marginalised in saga landscapes.
Icelandic Saga Map
The Icelandic Saga Map project offers an interactive, geo-referenced exploration of the Sagas of Icelanders, Landnámabók, and 19th-century travel accounts. This beta version provides mapped saga locations, travel routes, and manuscript data, with ongoing updates and additions.
Web Portals
Memorial website
Here you can find data on registered heritage sites in Iceland, including both protected and declared archaeological remains.
The sites are recorded according to the standards of the Icelandic Cultural Heritage Agency. The dataset includes point, line, and polygon data, along with information on the sites such as type, function, and age.
Sarpur
On this website, you can look up information on over one million items in the database, sourced from 56 museums across the country.
The Infrastructure Fund supported the purchase of a new cataloguing system for Sarpur. The launch of the new Sarpur is planned for 2025.
The Icelandic Web Archive
The Icelandic Web Archive has collected snapshots of Icelandic websites (.is-domains) and a hand-picked selection of Icelandic websites within other top-level domains in 2004.
External Databases
The National Land Survey of Iceland
Landmælingar Íslands, the National Land Survey of Iceland, provides various maps and other geographic data, including place names, aerial imagery, and more.
Loftmyndir ehf.
Loftmyndir features interactive maps from numerous municipalities, offering diverse information on terrain, buildings, infrastructure, and more. A beta version of a 3D map of Iceland has also been released.
Skáld.is
The website skald.is is dedicated to Icelandic women poets and their works. It serves as a database and resource for information on female poets from Iceland, past and present, highlighting their contributions to literature. The site includes biographies, poetry collections, and research on women’s poetry in Iceland.
The Íslendingasögur as Prosimetrum
This database provides a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of prosimetrum (prose and verse) in the Sagas of Icelanders. ÍSP explores how verse quotation shapes the sagas’ literary aesthetics and offers insights into their composition and variation in Icelandic manuscripts.