Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
honour stands in the churchyard.
Árni Magnússon
, whose greatest achievement was to
persuade Denmark to return many of the sagas to Iceland, was also born and raised here.
Laugar
A little further up Route 60 from the Hvammur junction and about 2km west,
LAUGAR
in Sælingsdalur valley was the birthplace of Guðrún Ósvifsdóttir. Remains of the
old
baths
where she had frequent meetings with Kjartan can still be seen at Laugar farm;
follow the signs to it along Route 589. This valley is also where her husband Bolli was
ambushed and murdered by Kjartan's brothers. In Guðrún's day, the geothermal springs
here were an important landmark for travellers on the long journey to and from the West
Fjords. Today they feed a wonderful outdoor
swimming pool
and small steam room
which forms part of the
Edda Laugar
hotel
. There's also a school nearby housing a small
folk museum
(June -Aug Mon-Fri 1-6pm; free), with the usual displays on local history.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
LAUGAR
3
By bus and car
From Laugar, Route 60 continues north,
following the course of the Svínadalsá river through
Svínadalur, which contains the gorge where Kjartan was
ambushed and murdered. Past here, the road reaches the
bridge over Gilsfjörður, marking the start of the West
Fjords - buses in this direction continue as far as
Hólmavík (see p.206), where connections are available
for Ísafjörður.
THE LAXDÆLA SAGA
The
Laxdæla Saga
has three main characters - the tall, blonde and heroic
Kjartan
; the
beautiful
Guðrún
Ósvífsdóttir
; and Kjartan's cousin
Bolli
, who lurks in the background to
complete a classic love triangle. It takes thirty or so chapters before the three figures are centre
stage, but before they have met, a wise man predicts that Guðrún will have four husbands.
After seeing Kjartan and Bolli swimming together, he later predicts that one day Bolli will stand
over the dead Kjartan, and be killed for his deeds; and thus the inescapable template for the
characters' lives is set out to the reader.
Guðrún is married to her first husband against her will and divorces him after two years. She
then marries Þord, who incurs the enmity of a family of sorcerers and is drowned as a result.
Guðrún then meets Kjartan, and they become close, but Kjartan decides to seek his fortune
abroad, and asks Guðrún to wait three years for him, but she refuses.
While in Norway, Kjartan is held hostage, but still finds time to have an affair with the beautiful
princess Ingibjorg. Bolli, who has been with his cousin during his courtship and on Viking
expeditions, now returns to Iceland and tells Gudrún that Kjartan intends to settle in Norway,
whereupon Gudrún's family persuade her to marry Bolli. Kjartan subsequently returns and marries
another woman, Hrefna, giving her a priceless
headdress
as a wedding gift, a gift actually
bestowed on him by Ingibjorg, who had told him to give it to Gudrún as a wedding present.
There is no love lost between the two neighbouring households, and things only worsen
when the headdress is stolen. In revenge, Kjartan lays siege to Guðrún and Bolli and humiliates
them by not letting them go to the lavatory for three days. Eventually, Guðrún goads Bolli and
his brothers to try to kill Kjartan - Bolli is reluctant but eventually joins the fight, dealing a
death blow to a barely injured but exhausted Kjartan, who gives himself to be killed by Bolli
and dies in his arms. Guðrún gloats over his death but Bolli is inconsolable. Kjartan's brothers
avenge him by eventually killing Bolli - Guðrún is pregnant at the time, and one of the killers
wipes his sword on her dress.
Eventually Guðrún gives birth to a son whom she names Bolli, after his father. She decides
she won't marry again until her husband is avenged, and makes a promise to Þorgils Hölluson
that she will marry no other man in the land than him if he kills her husband's murderer. This
he does, at which point Guðrún reveals she is betrothed to another, Þorkel Eyjólfsson, who is
abroad. She does indeed marry Þorkel, but he drowns, after which Guðrún becomes a nun.
She dies a hermit at Helgafell (see p.168) but before she dies, her son Bolli asks her which man
in her life she loved the most, to which she replies “I was worst to him I loved the most” - one
of the best-known lines of saga literature.
