Set in the north Icelandic valley of Skagafjörður, Víðimýri has long played an important role in the region’s history. South of the village Varmahlíð, this estate has transitioned through eras of power, faith, and everyday rural life, making it a window into Iceland’s evolving story.
A gathering place for chieftains and lawmen
Víðimýri’s roots as a seat of local power stretch back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The Ásbirningar family clan, a leading force in the north, made Víðimýri a manor and home base during this period. Chieftains including Kolbeinn Tumason and, later, Kálfur Brandsson are both known to have resided here. After the age of family chieftains waned, Víðimýri served as the residence of sheriffs in the 17th and 18th centuries, functioning as a centre of local administration long after its medieval heyday.
By the modern era, the single estate of Víðimýri had been divided into eight or nine smaller, independent farms. Yet the area’s layered legacy is still apparent in its landscape and in the memories recorded in Icelandic sagas.
Turf, timber and religious heritage
Religion has been part of Víðimýri’s story for almost as long as Christianity itself has been present in Iceland. There is evidence of a church existing here soon after the nation’s conversion. Among the church’s notable clergy is Guðmundur Arason, later bishop, who served here in earlier centuries.
The church visible today at Víðimýri dates from 1834 and is built in a traditional Icelandic style. Constructed from turf and timber, it stands as a rare example of the architecture once widespread across the island. Jón Samsonarson, who served in the Alþingi (parliament), oversaw its creation. Although villagers and church officials in the early 1900s pressed to replace it, the local farmer Steingrím Arason resisted change, and the building endured.
Preservation efforts became more intent in 1934, when the National Museum of Iceland acquired the church. Extensive restoration has taken place since, and the building is now considered an outstanding example of old Icelandic construction technique and craftsmanship.
Víðimýri’s past includes a period of fortified defences as well. According to the Sturlunga Saga, Snorri Sturluson, one of medieval Iceland’s most influential figures, ordered a fort to be built here around 1220. Traces of the fort reportedly survived into the 20th century before the land was levelled.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia (Icelandic) in Icelandic
