Iceland was founded during the Viking age of exploration in the 9th century, the Vikings sailing from Norway and other Nordic settlements to stake claims to land on the island. From Iceland, they sailed further to Greenland and Vinland (North America, named by Leif Eríksson, Erik’s son, after the wild grapes he saw on the shore). There were no recorded human settlements before this time, but the island was known to the Greeks and to Irish hermits as Thule. However, “Thule” may refer not only to Iceland but to the other regions in the Arctic; the word was used to describe “the northernmost part of the habitable ancient world”. A Viking assembly, the Althing, was established after the settlement period. Things, from the Old Norse þing, is used to describe these parliaments, and the name survives in the place names across Northern Europe, such as Tinganes (Faroe Islands), Dingwall (Scotland), Tynwald (Isle of Man), and Tingwall (Shetland and Orkney). In 1397, a Scandinavian union was formed at Kalmar, Sweden (Kalmar Union) bringing the separate kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under a single monarch. Iceland’s chieftains swore allegiance to the Norwegian king, and rule passed to the Danish crown. The rulers of Denmark increased their hold on the country in the 17th century. Iceland won the right for home rule in 1904, but later chose to break all ties with Denmark. The Icelandic republic was established in 1944.