2. Economic background: Traded commodities

Abstract

Economic background: Traded commodities The Carta Marina, the map of Scandinavia made in 1539 by Olaus Magnus, has become famous for its depictions of the many mythical creatures and sea monsters inhabiting the waters around Scandinavia. 1 However, if we take a close look at the the part of the map depicting Iceland (Figure 1.3), it shows a surprising amount of details regarding the commercial activities in the sixteenthcentury North Atlantic. Next to the ships from various German ports lying at anchor, sailing the Icelandic waters, or doing battle with ships from other nations, 2 the map gives us a nice overview of the insular products the German merchants were after. We see a pile of stockfish (marked G) on the southern coast, volcanic sources with sulphur deposits (B), butter produced in the monastery of Helgafell (H), and white falcons in the north (D). The following chapter will discuss these commodities in detail. 2.1 Fish 2.1.1 Stockfish The driving force behind the trade with the North Atlantic was stockfish, which was so central to the Icelandic economy that it appeared on the country's coat of arms, as we can see on the Carta Marina (Figure 1.3), as well as that of the city of Bergen. 3 Stockfish is air-dried fish made from species of the cod family (Gadidae), typically cod (Gadus morhua), but other species were used as well. The stockfish made of ling (Molva molva), which was abundant in the waters around Shetland, was considered especially tasty, 4 and according to a sale 1 See Olaus Magnus, Die Wunder des Nordens, ed.