Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1969, Page 40

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
tæplega sambærileg við fornskála, svo sem í Stöng eða Gröf í Öræfum,
sem virðast hafa verið með 5 ása þökum, en þegar litið er á uppgerð
á hlöðum kemur annað í ljós. Þær virðast vera alveg eins og fjós-
hláðan í Gröf. Annað einkenni, sem líklega má telja fornlegt er það,
að í öllum fjárhúsunum, þar sem fé var gefið á annað borð, eru jötur
við veggi, en raunar var fé lítt ætlað hey á Núpsstað nema helzt lömb-
um, og má vera að sá siður að hafa jötur í húsum hafi einmitt haldizt
þar.
Þó að tímarnir séu breyttir og nú ríki nýr siður á Núpsstað með
rafmagn, olíuhitun og vélvæddan búskap og bíllinn jafnvel búinn að
útrýma vatnahestunum af Skeiðarársandi, þá standa mörg þessi hús
enn í sínum gömlu tóftum og hýsa fólk og fé.
SUMMARY
Old farm houses at NúpsstaSur.
At the close of the 19th century there was a complete group of remarkable old
farm houses still intact at Núpsstaður in Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla, south of the huge
mass of the Vatnajökull glacier, as well as a whole set of the usual stables and
other outhouses. Some of these houses have been torn down altogether in the course
of time, others are partly torn down and disused, while a few are still standing and
in use. An intelligent farmer, Hannes Jónsson, who was born in 1880, grew up in the
said farm houses and in due course took over the farm and ran it till his death in
1968. He was known as a keen and lifelong observer of the tricky and perilous glacier
rivers separating his farm from the neighbouring district east of the Skeiðarársand-
ur, and one of the remarkable persons who had developed an almost uncannily sharp
instinct for finding their way across them on horseback. Hannes had a tenacious
memory and among other things he kept in his mind a vivid picture of the old farm
houses as they were before their gradual disintegration by modern buildings customs.
The author of this article set about questioning him on this matter in 1961 and
gradually he was able to complete a picture of the whole farm by combining a study
of the existing remains with Hannes’ information. The plans, drawings and photo-
graphs, as well as the detailed description, in the present paper, are the outcome of
this work. The author’s aim is, by reconstruction, to give a full description of a
middle-sized farm, typical throughout the 19th century in the southern parts of
Iceland