Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.2007, Page 183

182 ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
Bls 70-71. Reykjavík
Sigurður Guðmundsson. 1862. Þjóðólfur. 14. árg. 19.-20. tbl. 24. apríl. Bls. 76 -77.
Reykjavík.
Sigurður Guðmundsson 1868-74. Skýrsla um forngripasafn I, bls. 72-73. Kaupmannahöfn.
Sigurður Þórólfsson 2004. Munnlegar upplýsingar og bréf dags. 30. 9. 2004.
Summary
In 1860-1861 an eroding pre-christian burial was discovered in the neighbourhood
of the farm of Baldursheimur in Mývatnssveit, northern Iceland. In 1863 the farmer at
Baldursheimur, Jón Illugason (1810-1898), donated the artifacts from this burial; and, these
items, along with others, are the beginnings of the National Museum of Iceland.
At the time of their donation, eight drawings of the Baldursheimur artifacts were
created by the artist Arngrímur Gíslason (1829-1887) (see reproductions herein). It is
interesting to note that the drawing of the human-shaped gaming piece is depicted with
a large nose and dressed in a garment with sleeves whereas neither of these features is
evident on the original artifact today. The spear seems to have been well cared for since its
donation, as only a small portion has been broken from the tip. Apparently, the sword did
not deteriorate much over the years either. In 1862, Sigurður Guðmundsson mentioned
that the sword had silver decorations on the hilt, which can be seen on the drawings, but
are invisible now. The sword was x rayed in 1979 and traces of an inscription could be
seen on the blade, but it was not legible. The decorations on the hilt seem not to have
been visible on the x ray photograph.
There has been a bit of uncertainty over the years as to the exact location of the burial.
The author visited Baldursheimur in 2004 and looked at the possible location together
with goldsmith Sigurður Þórólfsson (born 1932), who grew up at Baldursheimur. They
looked at the small rise east of the farm, that showed signs of serious erosion which has
now been halted. Near the highest point of the rise Sigurður showed the author the
location he thought most likely which today is eroded and comprised of stones and
gravel.
An old riding path between Baldursheimur and the neighbouring farm of Grænavatn
can still be seen crossing the rise east of Baldursheimur. The path heads east away from
the farm then turns slightly northeast at the top of the rise close to where the burial is
thought to have been found. It is well known that pre-christian burials are often found
close to roads thereby adding to the liklihood of the accuracy of this location. No traces
of the burial can be seen now, and due to erosion the rise is lower than it was when the
burial was found in the 19th century
The author concludes that the most likely location for the burial is about 330-390 m
east of the farm, on the highest part of the rise, just south of the riding path where it turns
to the northeast. However, without proper archaeological investigation, a more precise
location is not possible at this time.