Icelandic sheep

History and origins. Icelandic sheep today are the direct descendants of the animals that the settlers brought to the country in the 9th and 10th centuries. It is derived from European short-stemmed species and is related to the genera Finnsheep, Romanov, Shetland, Spelsau and the Swedish countryside. All of these species are descended from the European shorthand, which was prevalent in Scandinavia and the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries.