Icelandic Sheep Foodways

Specialised

The Icelandic sheep is a North European short-tailed breed kept genetically isolated for over a thousand years. Sheep are released to the highland in June and gathered in September at the RÉTTIR, a community round-up that is one of the fixed points of the rural year. Lamb, mutton, offal, blood and the head are all used — a whole-animal tradition arising from scarcity, not from fashion.