Bárður Snæfellsás
Bárður Snæfellsás is a legendary figure from the west of Iceland . The legend about him ( Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss ) belongs to the Icelandic sagas and takes place around the Snæfellsjökull volcano . A statue that embodies him was designed by Ragnar Kjartansson and placed at Arnarstapi on Snæfellsnes .
The folk legend character Bárður
The saga of Bárður has very distinctive features of folk tales.
It is said that Bárður was one of the first settlers in the area around Snæfellsjökull, but much bigger and stronger than others because he had troll blood in his veins. He was extremely talented in sports and also had a good knowledge of magic. And like many others, arguments with the Norwegian King Harald Fairhair would have made him emigrate to Iceland.
He first called Snæfellsjökull Snjófell and founded a farm in what is now Hellnar municipality , which he called Laugarbrekka . Even today there is a farm with this name in Hellnar, but it is in a different place than described in the legend.
During the construction, Bárður is said to have lived in the Sönghellir cave and also sang there. Basically he bathed in the beautiful round maar Bárðarlaug (= the bath of Bárður). But he was also prone to berserking . So he killed his nephews, who had not been watching his daughter, by throwing one of them into the Rauðsgíl gorge (the gorge turned red with his blood) and the other falling from cliffs. According to legend, the daughter became the first "discoverer" of Greenland. The child drifted the 287 km to get there on an ice floe, but came back safe and sound (too late for the nephew).
Bárður also helped his neighbor Ingólfur, who settled in what is now Ólafsvík , and who was constantly in trouble with a troll woman from Mount Enni who wanted to assault him.
Eventually he disappeared after a collision with his half-brother in Snæfellsjökull, where he is still supposed to sit and guard his treasures, which are hidden in the small crater Bárðarkista , part of the mountain range.
Second part of the saga
The second part of the saga revolves around Bárður's daughter Helga and her adult life.
That was the girl who involuntarily traveled to Greenland.
Bárður as the patron saint of the area
For a long time the good Bárður was viewed by people in the area as a kind of guardian spirit and called upon in need.
Locations named after Bárður
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There are many names associated with this figure around the volcano, e.g. B. the Maar Bárðarlaug or the two craters called Bárðarkista , one in the south and the other in the northwest of Snæfellsjökull.
See also
literature
- BÁRÐAR SAGA SNÆFELLSÁSS, ed .: BJARKI BJARNASON Reykjavík (IÐNÚ publishing house); ISBN 9979-67-039-8 , ISBN 978-9979-67-039-1
