Landnám, literally land-taking, is the Old Norse term for the settlement of the North Atlantic islands in the viking age. This game focuses on this aspect of the period, which though less violent than certain contemporary events was not entirely without conflicts of its own.
The game consists of the exploration of an island, building settlements there and aquiring power and glory by winning legal disputes at the Althing – coincidentally corresponding to the three ages of Icelandic history between the Norse discovery of the island in the 9th century and the country's submission to the Norwegian crown in 1262: Landnámaöld, Söguöld and Sturlungaöld.
Though sharing core mechanics with the Catan range of games, the overall flow of the game differ markedly from each of these.
The game's home page contains a fuller description, including the rules and downloadable PDF files for the components.