Icelandic

Icelandic sheep have been in Iceland since the Norse settlement around 874, and the flock has been closed almost that entire time. Importing sheep to Iceland has been banned for centuries, so the breed is one of the purest and oldest in the world.

They are a short-tailed northern European breed: small, hardy, horned or polled, and they come in a wide range of natural colours and patterns.

The fleece is double coated, with a long coarse outer tog and a fine insulating thel, and the two can be separated or spun together as lopi. That structure is unusual and is why handspinners seek them out.

They are also genuinely triple purpose, giving meat, wool and milk.

The trade is size and containment. Icelandic lambs finish small by commercial standards, and the breed is independent-minded and hard on fences.