Introduction

The introduction provides the required background information about this volume for the readers. This includes some details about the “Disability before Disability” project upon which Understanding Disability Throughout History: Interdisciplinary perspectives in Iceland from Settlement to 1936 is based, such as the project's goals and methodology. This is followed by a short overview of disability studies and its development since the 1980s, as well as some criticisms that have been raised about the discipline's engagement with history. The introduction then provides some brief historical background about Iceland, with a specific focus on social conditions and marginalized populations. The introduction concludes with an overview of each research strand of the project that is represented in this volume – History, Folklore/Ethnology, Archaeology, Museum Studies, Medieval Icelandic Literature – and their engagement with Disability Studies, as well as a brief overview of the subject matter of each chapter.