Dalasýsla by Hvammsfjörður at the bottom of Breiðafjörður in the West is a sparsely populated area, an agricultural region with less than a thousand inhabitants. It is as if time has stood still in this historic region. Around 975, one of Iceland’s most famous sons, Leifur Heppni Eiríksson, was born in Eiríksstaðir in Dalasýsla, who was the first white man to come to North America in the year 1000. The settler Auður Djúpúðga Ketilsdóttir settled most of Dalasýsla in 890, but she found an exellent place at Hvammsfjörður, which she named Hvammur. Auður died in old age around 930, the year Alþingi was founded, but she was born in Norway around 850. She is the only queen who rests in Iceland, but her husband Ólafur the White was king of the Viking kingdom in Dublin (Dublin) in Ireland. He died in battle, and then Auður went to Scotland, but their only son, Þorsteinn rauði conquered half of Scotland in company with Sigurður, Earl of Orkney, before he fell in battle. Then Auður went back to Iceland with her seven grandchildren. Many great people in Icelandic history were descendants of Auður, who had herself buried in the seashore at home in Hvammur, because she was a Christian, and there was no holy ground nor an ordained priest in Iceland. Here are some photos from this historic region, which is definitely worth visiting, only two hours drive away from Reykjavík.
Dalasýsla 07/03/2024 : RX1RII, A7R III : 2.0/35mm Z, FE 2.8/100mm GM, FE 2.8/90mm G
Photographs & text: Páll Stefánsson
