Isn’t the Viking word for “Pirate”, “Víkingur?” Basically, they are descended from a race of pirates who raided the least bountiful real estate in the Northern Hemisphere.
Iceland was a refuge for convicted criminals exiled by the Norse. Erik Thorvaldsson (Erik the Red) was one of those, for manslaughter. Later on he killed someone in Iceland and was forced to move on to Greenland. Extended family went along with the condemned and thus Iceland, Greenland, and for a time Newfoundland and maybe even continental North America were colonized. So like Americans and Australians, both in part descendants of “transported” British convicts, Icelanders have a proudly rebellious nature.