directions austur/vestur/norour/suour
(east/west/north/south): These directional terms are used in a very wide sense
in the sagas; they are largely dependent on context, and they cannot be trusted
to reflect compass directions. Internationally, ‘the east’ generally refers to
the countries to the was and south-east of Iceland, and although ‘eastern’
usually refers to a Norwegian, it can also apply to a Swede (especially since
the concept of nationality was still not entirely clear when the sagas were
being written), and might even be used for a person who has picked up Russian habits.
‘The west’, or to ‘go west’, tends to refer to Ireland and what are now the
British Isles, but might even refer to lands even farther afield; the point of
orientation is west of Norway. When confined to Iceland, directional terms
sometimes refer to the quarter to which a person is travelling e.g., a man
going to the Althing from the east of the country might be said to be going ‘south’
rather than the geographically more accurate ‘west’, and a person going home to
the West Fjords from the Althing is said to be going ‘west’ rather than ‘north’.
(“Glossary,” in The Sagas of Icelanders [New York: Viking Penguin, 2000],
743)
