In the northern reach of Iceland, bordered by the Héraðsvötn and Svartá rivers in Skagafjörður, lies a narrow district named Tungusveit. The area’s boundaries today encompass the slim strip of land from Vallhólmur to the mouths of the Svartárdalur and Vesturdalur valleys, though its name once stretched across much of the old Lýtingsstaðahreppur region. Locals often refer to this tongue of land as Reykjatunga, marked by its long line of active farms and a church whose very ground is famously warm.
Farms rooted in heat and history
One of the most notable sites here is Reykir í Tungusveit, a farm and church standing on the banks of the Svartá. Its story traces back to Iceland’s early settlement, when it served as a manor. What sets Reykir apart is its abundant geothermal heat, so prevalent that finding cold drinking water has sometimes been a challenge. Warm springs bubble across the estate and neighbouring Steinsstaðir, a pattern echoed throughout the region. Some springs are so close to the Reykir cemetery that the earth itself remains heated, an exceptionally rare feature among churchyards worldwide.
The sagas and travellers’ accounts echo the importance of these hot springs. The Sturlunga saga tells of regional leaders Gissur Þorvaldsson and Kolbein ungi soaking in the area’s pools before the 1238 Battle of Örlygsstaðir. Later, in 1792, doctor and natural scientist Sveinn Pálsson described bathing in a cold spring by Reykir that could be warmed to comfort by diverting water from a nearby hot stream. The Reykir church, first built of wood in 1896 and reconstructed in 1976, remains on protected ground today.
Pools, learning, and new settlements
Further along Tungusveit stands Steinsstaðir, once an important manor and the home of Kráku-Hreiðar Ófeigsson. Geothermal benefits here, too, have shaped life in the district. Nearly everyone made use of Steinsstaðalaug, the old washing pool, which Pálsson described as warm yet not uncomfortable, ideal for both bathing and laundering. His father, Páll Sveinsson, added a watermill to the stream feeding the pool.
The healing and practical value of these pools extended to swimming education. Jón Þorláksson Kærnested held swimming classes in the 1820s, either in Steinsstaðalaug or in one of Reykir’s pools, a notable feat in an era when few Icelanders learned to swim. By the late nineteenth century, lessons became regular, and with improvements in the early 20th century, the Steinsstaðir pool became Skagafjörður’s first lined public swimming pool, then the first concrete pool in the county by 1925. The present pool has been in use since 1980.
Changing times have brought new uses to the land. After farming ended at Steinsstaðir in 1943, the property divided into smallholdings and an emerging urban area. A local school opened in 1949, later closing in 2003 as students joined a larger school in Varmahlíð. Today, the school building and a nearby community centre serve various roles, and the area contains numerous summer houses and a tourist service hub. Yet the geothermal warmth and the river boundaries remain, binding Tungusveit to its singular history and landscape.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia (Icelandic) in Icelandic
