Reykjavík Grapevine - Feb 2020, Page 36

Distance from
Reykjavík:
95 km

How to get there:
Route One east

Trip provided by:
cavesofhella.is
Car provided by:
!ocarrental.is
The caves of Hella are a wonder to
behold. Nobody knows for sure how
old they are, but many historians date
them back to the early/mid-9th cen-
tury, right before the Viking Ingólfur
Arnarsson cast two carved pillars into
the sea off the coast of Iceland, and
settled where they landed. That would
make the caves the oldest man-made
structure in Iceland. But who built
them? With an unquenchable thirst for
knowledge, I ventured south to explore
the halls myself.
Vikings, monks and
farmers
“Ægissí!a means ‘by the sea’ in Ice-
landic,” Álfrún, one of the caretakers
of the site, tells our group. “But we
are nowhere near the sea. In Gaelic,
though, Ægissí!a means ‘the man-
made caves.’”
The Vikings did not dig tunnels or
live in caves, and they did not initially
follow Christianity. Therefore, it’s
most likely that Irish monks, the set-
tlers who predated the Vikings, were
responsible for carving out these caves
and using them for worship. Eventu-
ally, refusing to share their island with
pagans, the monks left, abandoning
their caves.
Since then, the caves have been
privately owned by farmers, and were
closed to the public for many years.
Carvings and
conservation
In the early part of the 20th century,
people began to see the value in under-
standing and preserving the history
of these caves. Starting in the 1960s,
caretakers would give tours to Icelan-
dic school groups. The students would
tour the caves, and then carve their
names and the date they visited into
the soft sandstone walls. Only recently
the caves have fully opened to the pub-
lic, guided by a local historian.
The smell of hay clings in my nose
as our guide Árni explains that farm-
ers used the caves in the area to house
animals for centuries. The first cave we
visit was used to house livestock in the
early part of the 20th century. Before
1913, no one knew that the cave was
there. That year, a horse stepped into
one of the chimneys in the field above
the cave, which led to its discovery.
From the mouth of the cave, the
walls extend back about 150 meters.
A high ceiling in the front, where the
chimney is, precedes a lower ceiling
and a square alcove, which Árni says
was most likely a domicile.
A tight passageway leads to an-
other cave with a ceiling that is only
a meter and a half tall. When this
cave was discovered, the farmers
dug a well in it and used the cave to
house their sheep. It is unclear what
the purpose of this room was before
that.
A chapel and a cowshed
The final cave available to the public
was most likely used as a place of wor-
ship. We cross a vast field to reach it.
Two other caves have collapsed, but
wooden supports jut out of the ground,
holding them open for restoration.
Árni tells us that the location of all
of these caves would be ideal for set-
tlers in the Middle Ages. “There is a
river not too far from here where you
can get fresh water,” he explains. “And
from this hill, you can see for a long
way into the distance in all directions.
Perfect for a Viking.” However, he also
emphasises that the Vikings lived in
longhouses. Therefore, if they did live
in this location, it was probably not in
the caves.
Finally, we step inside the third
cave. It takes a moment for our eyes to
adjust, but what we see when they do
is spectacular. Seats are carved into
the wall by the entrance, with a torch
sconce dug into the sandstone above
them. Directly in front of us, stairs
lead up to another cave, which has col-
lapsed. A short rail track has been built
here, which Árni’s grandfather used to
transport hay from this cave into the
next one, where the cows lived.
On the back wall, a cross is em-
bossed. The cave was carved around
this eroded symbol. Around it, intri-
cate patterns are carved into the sand-
stone, although they are heavily faded.
“Catholics come here from all over the
world and hold mass,” our guide says. A
palpable holy atmosphere lingers from
over a thousand years ago, it seems.
A restoration project is currently
underway, supervised by the Cultural
Heritage Agency of Iceland. The goal
of the restoration is to eventually open
more of the caves to the public, and all
income generated from the tours of the
caves that are currently open will go to
this end. As more is revealed about the
caves, we can only hope to learn more
about Iceland’s pre-Viking settlers.
36The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2020
Sandstone
And Reverence
The ancient caves of Hella elicit a sense of awe
Words: Sam O’Donnell Photos: Art Bicnick
Travel
Álfrún and Árni Old runic carvings. Or maybe some kid carved it in the 1960s.
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“Ægissí!a means
‘by the sea’ in Ice-
landic, but we
are nowhere near
the sea. In Gaelic,
though, ægissi!a
means ‘the man-
made caves.’”