Reykholt
Reykholt is a small settlement in the Borgarfjörður district of West Iceland, best known as the home of the chieftain and writer Snorri Sturluson, the most important author of medieval Iceland. The site preserves Snorralaug, a circular stone-lined geothermal bathing pool fed by a nearby hot spring, alongside the Snorrastofa research centre and the church that stand where Snorri's farm once was.
Region
West Iceland
Coordinates
64.6640° N, 21.2912° W
Plan the stop
- Allow
- 1 hr
Accessibility
- Wheelchair · Partial
- The Snorrastofa centre and church stand on level ground with parking alongside; Snorralaug is an open-air stone pool viewed from a low surrounding path, with a few steps down to the water's edge.
- Limited mobility · Partial
- Short, mostly flat distances between the parking area, the pool, and the centre, with some uneven grass and a few steps at the pool.
- Sensory · Full
- A quiet rural setting; the indoor centre is calm outside of concerts and events.
- Cognitive · Full
- A small, clearly laid-out site with interpretive signage in the centre.
Why it matters
Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) settled at Reykholt in 1206 and made it the base from which he twice served as lawspeaker of the Alþingi and became one of the wealthiest and most powerful chieftains in Iceland. Here he wrote or compiled the Prose Edda, the single most important source for Norse mythology and the conventions of skaldic poetry, and Heimskringla, a history of the kings of Norway that traces their line back to the god Óðinn; he is also widely thought to have written Egil's Saga. Snorri's entanglement in Norwegian court politics led King Hákon Hákonarson to order his death, and on the night of 23 September 1241 his enemies, led by his former son-in-law Gizur Þorvaldsson, killed him in the cellar of his farmhouse, reportedly as he pleaded 'Do not strike!' (Eigi skal höggva). Snorralaug, the stone bathing pool fed by the Skrifla hot spring, and the remains of a passage that once ran from it toward the farmhouse are among the oldest preserved man-made structures in Iceland and are mentioned in Sturlunga saga. The Snorrastofa centre for medieval studies and its library, opened in 1995, now stand on the site beside the Reykholt churches.