I have a question about the Icelandic Commonwealth period. Did the people of Iceland consider Canute the Great their overlord?

by Unthinkable-Thought

I know it's very specific. I'm a fan of Canute and the North Sea Empire, I'm just trying to find out if Iceland was in it.

EyeStache

TL;DR: No.

Slightly longer: Between the settlement of Iceland (874+/-) to the start of the Norwegian Overlordship (1262) Iceland was, politically, independent of any other kingdom or state. Knutr inn ríkik didn't extend his authority west to Iceland for a number of reasons, but chief of which is that Iceland had nothing of any real note to provide during his reign. They were, primarily, in the business of importing things to Iceland, exporting poetry, and generally not doing a whole lot in the terms of Inter-European affairs. By the time of the Sturlungaöld, when Sturlung family were really pushing hard for Norwegian influence in Iceland and the attendant political power that came with it, Knutr was long dead.

EDIT: Wrong date range for the settlement