“Ásbyrgi IS the most beautiful place in Iceland!”, I heard an Icelandic woman say to her friend in the Ásbyrgi store. “I agree 100%”, said the friend, “as it’s very warm outside, quite unique summer warmth and the light last night at Botnstjörn, was quite unique”. Ásbyrgi is a sheer mountain enclosure in Vatnajökull National Park, in the north of Norður Þingeyjar County, and one of Iceland’s greatest natural wonders. It’s a massive flat rock table mountain that was formed, according to Norse tradition, when the eight-legged horse,Sleipnir, belonging to Odin, the supreme god in Norse mythology, touched the ground for a moment, and left a 3.5 km long hoofprint where Ásbyrgi is now. Some scientists claim that Ásbyrgi was formed following a catastrophic eruption and subsequent glacial flood of the Jökulsá á Fjöllum River basin, the largest lake in Iceland, whose outlet flows just east of Ásbyrgi down to the sea in Öxarfjörður. Ásbyrgi is just 4 km from Skinnastaður, 30 km from Kópasker, 60 km from Húsavík, and 560 km from Reykjavík.
entrance to Ásbyrgi
Öxarfjörður : 09/07/2022 : A7C, RX1R II : FE 1.4/24mm GM, 2.0/35mm Z
Photo and text : Páll Stefánsson
