Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.08.2016, Page 64

One of the best known of all Icelan-
dic folk songs is “Á Sprengisandi,”
by Grímur Thomsen. Therein, a
rider dashes across the rocky des-
ert of the title, pursued by increas-
ingly outlandish creatures includ-
ing unclean spirits, a bloodthirsty
fox, outlaws in Ódáðahraun and
finally an Elfin Queen. The song
does not reveal whether or not the
rider makes it to safety—only that
he would gladly give his best horse
to get away.
The place names are real.
Sprengisandur is in the highlands
between the Hofsjökull and Vatna-
jökull glaciers. Its most perilous
aspect is not the notoriously fickle
weather, but the fact that there is
little in the way of grass or water
up there, so horses have a hard
time making the crossing. The
route leads up to the Ódáðahraun
lava field, which roughly trans-
lates as “Bad Deeds Lava.”
But what about the residents
mentioned? Bad spirits and elves
remain cause for conjecture, but
foxes certainly exist in Iceland,
being the only land mammals
here when the Vikings first ar-
rived. And there is, in fact, a long
tradition of outlaws reaching
back to the Saga Age. In a way, the
causes were practical. There were
no prisons in the country, and so
sentencing would consist of fines,
or, for more serious crimes, ban-
ishment.
A person who was declared an
outlaw could be legally killed, and
relatives of their assumed victims
would more often than not avail
themselves of this clause. Some
notable Saga figures, such as the
famous Gunnar Hámundarson
of Njáls Saga or Gísli Súrsson of
Gísla Saga (and the subject of the
1981 film Outlaw’) were killed in
this manner, while Grettir “The
Strong” Ásmundarson of Grettis
Saga spent years in the wilderness.
When Iceland became part of the
Kingdom of Denmark, reprobates
were sent to prison in Copenhagen,
from whence few returned. It was
only in 1770 that Iceland got its first
prison, then the sturdiest building
in Iceland, which now houses the
Prime Minister’s office. But the
tradition of outlawry persisted for
those who ran away from the law.

Self-imposed exile
for 40 years
The most famous outlaw of them
all was Eyvindur of the Moun-
tains. In 1746, at the age of 32, he
was accused of fathering an il-
legitimate child as well as theft.
Instead of facing a stiff sentence,
he ran away to the mountains.
Adding a further twist, he be-
came a farmhand incognito for a
young widow called Halla. When
he was found out, he took to the
hills again and Halla went with
him. They spent the next 40-odd
years traversing the wilderness,
avoiding capture or in some cases
escaping again after being appre-
hended.
You can see the remnants of
their dwellings in many places.
At Hveravellir in Kjölur, one of
the two main routes crossing the
highlands, there is a cave he lived
in, and you can even bathe in his
natural hot tub. At Herðubreiðar-
lindir, by the majestic Herðubreið
mountain, he lived in a little hole
with a horse carcass for cover. He
later said this was the worst win-
ter of his life, as Halla had been
captured and he waited for an op-
portunity to spring her free.
The tales and numbers of out-
laws may often have been exag-
gerated, and instilled a dispropor-
tionate dread. They were usually
no more than sheep thieves, but
people would mount expeditions
to capture them or destroy their
hard-earned food stocks and sup-
plies. In the 19th century, as out-
lawry came to an end, the percep-
tion changed. Inspired by national
romanticism, Eyvindur and Halla
became the subjects of popular
plays and even a Swedish silent
film in 1918, ‘The Outlaw and His
Wife’. Today, they rank alongside
the Saga heroes as icons of Icelan-
dic culture.
SHARE & LINKS:
gpv.is/hoh11
TRAVEL HISTORY
The Legends Of
The Outlaws
For decades, Icelandic farmers
feared the men of the mountains.
Words MIA WOTHERSPOON
Photos MATTHEW EISMAN / MIA WOTHERSPOON
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2016
62
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