Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2010, Blaðsíða 43

Always best price online.
Various online-offers to all Air Iceland's destinations.
www.airiceland.is
websales@airiceland.is / tel. +354 570 3030 Contact Air Iceland or
travel agent for reservation.
ÍS
L
E
N
S
K
A
S
IA
.I
S
F
L
U
4
75
69
1
0/
20
09
KEFLAVÍK
BORGARNES
STYKKISHÓLMUR
SNÆFELLSJÖKULL
DRANGAJÖKULL
FLATEY
NESKAUPSTAÐUR
BLÖNDUÓS
SIGLUFJÖRÐUR
BOLUNGARVÍK
HRÍSEY
NARSARSSUAQ
Greenland
FAROE ISLANDS
REYKJAVÍK
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
VESTMANNAEYJAR
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
ÞÓRSHÖFN
HÚSAVÍK
GRÍMSEY
KULUSUK
Greenland
Blue Lagoon
AKRANES Geysir
Gullfoss
Jökullónið
Kárahnjúkar
Krafla
Hallormstaður
NUUK
Greenland
ILULISSAT
Greenland
www.airiceland.is
CONSTABLE POINT
Greenland
31
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2010 Accommodation provided by Heydalur
Booking tel.: +354-456-4824 or www.heydalur.is
(complimentary to the guests but priced at 1290
ISK for campers). A gray parrot, named Kobbe,
entertained us while we ate, performing tricks for
sips of orange juice. After breakfast, we found the
hot pot and soaked up the warmth and the view of
fjord.
Stella Guðmundsdóttir, the owner of the inn,
told us she opened the place in the early 2000s af-
ter converting the cow houses into the cozy guest
rooms. Despite the seclusion, Heydalur provides
plenty of activities to keep guests entertained year
round, such as fishing, kayaking, horse-back rid-
ing, and, as we had already discovered, relaxing
in the hot pot. In the winter, organised trips are
offered to view the northern lights. Both my travel
companion and I agreed that Heydalur is the per-
fect place to unwind and relax.
We left the guesthouse mid-afternoon and
headed towards Hólmavík. The rainbow infested
skies caused us to stop many times for pictures
along the way.
THE UNDERGROUND
On route to Hólmavík we stopped at Vatnsfjörður,
where an abandoned church and half empty
graveyard stood next to a freshly excavated ar-
chaeological site, recently covered with turf for
protection from the elements before next sum-
mer’s dig. A farm mound, built up over the course
of a thousand years, contained buildings, one on
top of another including the last turf house built
in Vatnasfjorður in 1884. Archaeologists and stu-
dents from the field school at the Fornleifastofnun
Íslands (Institute of Archaeology, Iceland) and
NABO (North Atlantic Biocultural Organisation)
have been excavating the site since 2004.
The older area of the site, dating to the 10th
century, once belonged to a Viking chieftain. Gen-
tle slopes in the ground mark the silhouettes of a
large farm, a smithy and a number of small stor-
age buildings and workshops, all part of a thriving
settlement during the Viking Age. Pits filled with
flame-cracked rocks, which once held sparkling
fires, were used for cooking and making tools.
Some of the artefacts found over the years in-
clude blue glass beads, a rare gold pendant, loom
weights, charred animal bones and plant remains,
among other things.
Rumours of a possible tunnel from the large
cellar near the farm mound to the church remain a
mystery. The archaeologists have decided to leave
the cellar in tact for the public to view, instead of
destroying it and risking not finding anything. The
graveyard near the recently abandonded church
also remains unexcavated out of respect for leav-
ing the modern graves undisturbed.
THEORY ABOUT MAGIC & MIRACLES
After getting a taste of the mysterious history of
Vatnsfjörður, we decided to explore some of the
folklore of the West Fjords. We arrived at the Mu-
seum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in Hólma-
vík early in the evening on Thursday. My travel
companion and I wandered around the museum
for about twenty-five minutes while listening to
recordings on a headset explaining the exhibits in
English. The museum manager later told us that
the museum had been built in order to boost tour-
ism for the town; however, all the explanations of
the displays were in Icelandic.
The museum displayed glass cases filled with
human skin worn by sorcerers, the famed nábri-
kur; pieces of a whale’s mouth used for casting
spells; and other blood stained objects associated
with magical happenings around the Strandir area.
A surge of supernatural interest and persecutions
occured in the 17th century, and nearly 200 people
were suspected of practicing witchcraft. Twenty-
one of them were found guilty and burnt alive (20
men and 1 woman). The recording on the headset
explained it all and set a magical scene.
As we were leaving, the museum manager
asked if we would like to see his costume...umm,
yeah! He went into the museum to change and
came back out dressed in a tunic and hat made
of animal skin. The guy jumped onto the bench in
front of the museum and gave us a much more
interesting view on sorcery and witchcraft than
the museum itself. He went on about the magic
of tattoos and how he had calmed the winds later
that morning by chanting a spell and holding a rod
topped with the head of a fish with a rune-carved
stick in its mouth.

After we finished talking and were about to leave,
my travel companion and I realised that we need-
ed to jump-start our car, as had been the case for
the entirety of our journey. We jokingly asked the
museum manager to perform some magic so we
could avoid the hassle of jumper cables for the
third time that day. Much obliged, he slapped his
hand down on top of the hood of the car, warning
us that magic can be dangerous if not performed
properly. We turned the keys and sure enough, the
car started. We drove back to Reykjavík without
any other car troubles and our heads full of magi-
cal wonderment from the West Fjords.
EMILY BURTON
HvALREKI
1. Heydalur guesthouse
2. Hotspring in Heydalur
3. & 4. The Sorcery museum in Hólmavík