History of the area

The mystique galicer, trolls and elfs. Vikings, poems and fishing stations.

Bardur the Spirit of the Glacier

The area around Snaefellsjokull Glacier has always been draped with mystique, ever since Bardur the Spirit of the Glacier settled here early in the tenth century. Bardur was born in the northern part of Norway, had a Sami grandmother who was a shaman, and was brought up among dwarfs in the Dovre Mountains in Norway where he studied shamanism and witchcraft.

Bardur was attracted to the snowy mountain that he called Snjofell. Later the name changed to Snaefellsjokull Glacier. The Glacier itself is 1.446 m high and under the beautifully formed snowcap is an active volcano.

Bardur settled at Laugarbrekka at Hellnar (Forna-Laugarbrekka which can be reached by a hiking trail from Hotel Hellnar or by car from Road 574) but while he built his farm he stayed in the Songhellir Cave. Later he used the cave for ceremonies with his men. Bardur lived a colorful life, but when he no longer wanted to live among men he gave away his belongings and walked into the Glacier. In people's mind he became a Spirit of the Glacier and they began to worship him.

Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir

Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir was born at Laugarbrekka in the latter part of the tenth century. As a young woman she sailed to Greenland with her parents around the year 1000. She married Thorstein, son of Eric the Red, but he died from the Plague. Later she married Thorfinn Karlsefni and traveled with him to Vineland (now known as America). While in Vineland she gave birth to her son Snorri, who is considered to be the first child of European origin to be born in America.

Old fishing stations

Most of the major fishing stations in Iceland were on the westernmost part of Snaefellsnes Peninsula, and people came here for the spring fishing season from all over the country. The fishing banks around Snaefellsnes Peninsula were rich and the boats didn’t have to go far out. One can still find many places with ruins which indicate where the fishermen built their sheds such as at Hellnar, and by Londrangar, Djulalonssandur, Beruvik and Gufuskalar which are all within the Snaefellsjokull National Park.

Poets and writers

Well known poets and writers have through the centuries lived on the westernmost part of Snaefellsnes Peninsula. In the latter part of last century Nobel Prize Laureate Halldor Kiljan Laxness spent a great deal of time there, and wrote Christianity Under the Glacier.