Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Page 64

Arne Espelund
Figure 7. Fnjóskadalur seen from the south. The bloomery site named Belgsá lies at the edge at the
lower right side (brownish), affected by wind erosion. Air photo by Mats Wibe Lund.
that occasion a map comprising Medieval
sites and activities in Northern Iceland was
presented (Hermanns-Auðardóttir 1999).
It is shown in figure 6. The sites studied
by this author lie on the east side of the
river Fnjóská, running to the north, east of
Kaupangur. The number of bloomery sites
shown on the map is 28.
The topography of Fnjóskadalur
The valley of Fnjóskadalur has the typi-
cal U-shape, created by glaciation (Figure
7). On the west side there are few trees
and the area is dominated by farms lying
some 1‘A kilometres apart. People raise
sheep, and pastures and fields for hay-
making are needed. The east side is heavi-
ly wooded with the three forests named
Vaglaskógur, Lundur and Þorðarstaðar-
skógur. The mountains in the east rise to
700-900 m, in the west to 500-700 m.
The rounded tops consist of crumbled
basalt, resulting in a low level of ground
water and little vegetation. The valley was
probably settled at an early date. Accord-
ing to Landnámabók Þórir Snepill “took
land” at Lundur. Viðivellir is mentioned
in the Sturlungesaga while Belgsá is men-
tioned in 1446 (probably older: Björk Ingi-
mundardóttir pers. comm.).
The large forests on the east-
ern slope are a big surprise and a great
attraction in the Icelandic landscape.
They have obviously never been heavily
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