Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2005, Page 11

Torfi H. Tulinius
THE WESTFJORDS
When one looks at a map of Iceland,
among the fírst things that catch the eye
is the north-westem peninsula, the so-
called Westfjords (Icel. Vestfirðir). Its
bizarre and complex shape is suggestive
to the imagination, a bit like a Rohr-
schach test. To me it looks like a giant
hand or claw growing out of the rest of
the country, ready to grab whatever floats
by in the North Atlantic. To others it
probably evokes something else. Be that
as it may, the Westfjords are not only fas-
cinating for the eye, they are also an
exceptionally interesting region for
research on the past. The reasons are
almost as numerous as the fífty-two
fjords and bays which compose this
strange-looking peninsula. The aim of
this introduction is to give the reader a
small idea of why this particular area of
Iceland is so interesting.
The Westfjords can be consid-
ered to form a triangle attached to the rest
of the country at one of its comers by a
thin strip of mountainous land between
the fjords of Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður.
The triangle is almost equilateral, since
each of its three sides is of approximate-
ly the same length. All of them are cut by
fjords. However, each side has its special
characteristics.
The south coast, called Barða-
strönd, faces the fjord of Breiðafjörður
and its myriad of islands. Going from
east to west, it forms a series of ijords
and peninsulas but ends with the long
and high cliffs of Látrabjarg. Though part
of the Westfjords, this area was also in
close contact with other coastal regions
of Breiðafjörður: Dalir to the east and
Snæfellsnes to the south. During most of
the history of Iceland, many of the
numerous islands were inhabited and
some still are.
The eastem side of the triangle,
oriented south-east to north-west, faces
the north of the country, with which it has
had contact over the centuries. It is also
open to the Arctic Ocean which carries
large amounts of driftwood which are
cast on the shore each year. This is one of
the primary resources of this part of a
country famously poor of forests. The
Strandir region, as it is called, prolongs
itself to the north-west, in an even more
isolated and sparsely populated area
called Homstrandir.
The westem side of the peninsu-
la faces the open sea. It is characterized
by large fjords which drive deep into to
the peninsula, towards the centre of the
triangle. This is especially tme of two of
these fjords, Arnaríjörður and ísa-
fjarðardjúp. The fírst one is to the south
and forms a self-contained world with
several smaller ijords branching into the
Archaeologia Islandica 4 (2005) 9-15