The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1981, Qupperneq 40

38
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
AUTUMN, 1981
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF AUDUR (UNNUR)
THE DEEP MINDED
Translation
I went to the estuary of the River Orrida
accompanied by the Rev. Kjartan from
Hvamm for the purpose of examining the
ruins of Audur’s dwelling, which the saga
mentions, also the ruins of her boat-house
and her memorial stone both of which the
saga does not mention. I referred to ruins of
Audur’s boat-house in Arbok (year book)
1882. This boat-house is located east of the
River Orrida on a high ridge. It is partially
covered with debris. It is obvious that it is a
boat-house, as there is no man-made struc-
ture in the vicinity. The river has partially
inundated it so that only about 12 yards of it
can be seen. In all likelihood there has been
in that location a delta (that of the River
Orrida which the saga mentions), but to the
west there are large sandbanks that extend
far into the ocean, thus forming a bay that
extends to the ruins of the boat-house. This
bay is now partially filled with rocks on both
sides of the river, but the sea extends to the
boat-house during the time of flood tides.
Upwards and westward 24-26 yards from
the boat-house there are many ruins on a
heath. In one place near the highway ap-
pears to be a large, long ruin sloping down-
ward. On both sides of it are high rows of
knolls, but there is a ravine in the middle
with a more or less flat bottom which, it
would appear, was formerly a road. The
lower part of the aforementioned estuary
extending into the ravine appears to be much
broader than the upper part. It is likely that
the upper part had a different shape in days
gone by, possibly due to the erosive action
of the river which appears to be constantly
changing its course. All of this man-made
structure appears to have been 24-48 yards
in length. The row of knolls in the lower part
have fallen in and out, but on the upper part
are more or less in a straight line. We dug
down in 3-4 places. As a rule the surface soil
was shallow, but the hole dug on the upper
level was the deepest. There we found dark
almost black remains of a floor. In one place
we found the remains of a tree, but it was so
decayed that it disintegrated when we tried
to pick it up. It is the opinion of well-
informed persons that had been a floor, an
opinion that we shared. This conclusion is in
conformity with the statement in the sagas
that Audur’s original dwelling had been
located in the delta of the River Orrida.
There is no reason to question the authen-
ticity of the words of the sagas, as this is the
most suitable site for human habitation near
the delta of the river; east of the river where
the hamlet of Hvamm is now located. This
conclusion is also in conformity with my
previous research, the account of which was
published in Arbok, 1882.
The walls of the boat-house were con-
structed of stone 10 feet in thickness. The
inside dimensions are approximately 12-13
feet. No one had suspected that there could
have been a boat-house in this location, as it
is a considerable distance inland, the mouth
of the river having been filled with debris.
The present landing place is now far from
that of the time of Audur’s arrival.
Audur’s Memorial Stone
We examined Audur’s memorial stone as
it is called. It is located more than 300 yards
from the estuary, rather far from the western
part of it. The stone is located over 300
yards from a rocky ridge; rather far west of
the estuary and somewhat west of the end of
the bay, nearer to its western comer. It lies
at an angle facing southwest. It is 5 feet long
and 2'ji wide where it is the widest, and