The island's inside, the Highlands of Iceland, is a chilly and uninhabitable blend of sand, mountains, and lava fields. The Sagas of Icelanders say that a Norwegian named Naddodd (or Naddador) was the first Norseman to access Iceland, and in the ninth century, he named it Snæland or "snow land" because it was snowing. After the split-up of the union in 1523, it remained a Norwegian dependency, as a part of Denmark-Norway.