The eruption of Eldgjá was a lava flood, which produced prolonged lava flows across the island, literally flooding the landscape with lava.
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The earliest settlers of Iceland, a combination of Vikings and Celts around 874, were exposed to this massive eruption just two or three generations after inhabiting the island. This led to a massive cultural, health, and economic impact on the settlers during the early years.
The eruption was chronicled across Europe with accounts of a weakened blood-red Sun, cool summer, bitterly cold winter, drought, famine, and locust infestations. By the 940s there was widespread starvation and death from northern Europe to northern China.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
"Researchers from the University of Cambridge found evidence that Iceland's conversion to Christianity was linked to a massive eruption shortly after the island was settled"
Forbes: