Borgarvirki

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Borgarvirki

The Borgarvirki is one of the few fortresses that have been discovered in Iceland to date . It is located in the west of the Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla district and not far from the Hóp lagoon in the north of the country.

Building the fortress

The fortress rests 177 meters above sea level on a natural bulwark made of basalt columns between Lake Vesturhópsvatn and Víðidalur . The 10–15 m high basalt columns already form a fortress-like structure with a 5–6 m deep depression in the middle and an opening to the east. Other layers of rock 1 to 2 m high and up to 30 m long have been piled up on the basalt columns.

In the middle you can see the remains of one or two huts from the Viking Age . The larger one measures 9 m × 4 m, the smaller 8 m × 4 m. The remains of a well have also been discovered.

Purpose and origin

The fortress is believed to date from the 10th or 11th century.

Various theories exist regarding the origin and purpose of this fortress.

The Heiðarvíga saga reports z. B. from Barður Guðmundarsson and his quarrel with the Borgfirdingers . The establishment of the Borgarvirki is attributed to him.

Another source refers to Finnbogur rammi , who lived on Stóra-Borg and was in dispute with the Vatnsdælingers .

A third story tells that the first settler in the Ingimundur Gamli area had the Borgarvirki built during the winter as a job creation measure. This is quite conceivable, although Ingimundur would certainly have thought more about the protection of his property. In any case, according to the Vatnsdæla saga, it had its first settlement at the foot of the Borgarvirki before it finally installed itself in Vatnsdalur .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tómas Einarsson, Helgi Magnússon, Örlygur Hálfdánarson: Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra saga og sékenni. Volume 1. Örn og Örlygur, Reykjavík 1989, p. 323 f.
  2. ↑ Jens Willhardt, Christine Sadler: Iceland. 3rd, updated and revised edition. Müller, Erlangen 2003, ISBN 3-89953-115-9 , p. 505.
  3. ^ Tómas Einarsson, Helgi Magnússon, Örlygur Hálfdánarson: Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra saga og sékenni. Volume 1. Örn og Örlygur, Reykjavík 1989, p. 324.
  4. ↑ Ferðafélags Íslands Árbók. 2007, ISSN  0256-8470 , p. 6.

Coordinates: 65 ° 28 ′ 31.7 "  N , 20 ° 35 ′ 47.8"  W.