Vopnafjörður
Encyclopedia
Vopnafjörður is a village and municipality in Northeast Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, standing on a peninsula in the middle of a mountainous bay (fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
) by the same name. The main industries of Vopnafjordur are fish processing, agriculture, and tourism and other services.
Overview
Vopnafjörður is known for its salmon rivers and large areas of untouched landscape. HofsáHofsá
Hofsá river in Vopnafjörður fjord, Iceland, is one of Iceland's best salmon rivers. Every year a great number of foreign visitors come to fish in the river...
and Selá
Sela
Sela |rock]]; Arabic: as-Sala‛; ; ) was the capital of Edom, situated in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea . It was near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin. It is called "the rock" . When Amaziah took it he called it Joktheel or Kathoel in the Septuagint...
are two of the most exclusive salmon rivers in Iceland. The salmon rivers and other attractions in and around Vopnafjörður have drawn numerous foreign visitors, including artists, celebrities and politicians such as Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, George Bush, Sr.
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
and Queen Paola of Belgium
Queen Paola of Belgium
Paola, Queen of the Belgians , is the queen consort of Albert II of Belgium....
.
Vopnafjörður is on Route 85 and has an airport
Vopnafjörður Airport
-External links:*...
with scheduled flights to Akureyri
Akureyri
Akureyri is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's second largest urban area and fourth largest municipality ....
on business days. Other services include Vopnafjarðarskóli primary school with around 90 students, Leikskólinn Brekkubær preschool, Landsbanki
Landsbanki
Landsbanki, also commonly known as Landsbankinn in Iceland, is a private Icelandic bank with international operations...
nn bank and Heilbrigðisstofnun Austurlands clinic
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
.
HB Grandi
HB Grandi
HB Grandi is an Icelandic fishing industry company, one of the largest in the country, based in Reykjavík. The company formed from the merger of Grandi from Reykjavík and Haraldur Böðvarsson from Akranes. on January 1, 2004. Later that year, the company merged with Tangi from Vopnafjörður and...
, Iceland's largest fishing company, is the largest employer in the area. The company runs a high-tech freezing plant and a fishmeal factory in Vopnafjörður.
The Myth
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
tells the story of a seafarer who sailed to Iceland in ancient times. When he reached Vopnafjörður, he saw an enormous dragon who guarded the bay, and drove everybody away with fire. The dragon was followed by a great number of lizards and insects.
This dragon was one of the four mythical landvættir
Landvættir
Landvættir are spirits of the land in Norse mythology and in Germanic neopaganism. They protect and promote the flourishing of the specific places where they live, which can be as small as a rock or a corner of a field, or as large as a section of a country.-The nature of landvættir:Some scholars...
, guardians of Iceland. The dragon has become the icon of Vopnafjörður, and is pictured on the Coat of arms of Iceland
Coat of arms of Iceland
The coat of arms of Iceland is a cross of silver on a sky-blue shield, with a fire-red cross inside the silver cross . The shieldbearers are the four protectors of Iceland standing on a pahoehoe lava block...
.
History
The bay of Vopnafjörður was first settled by Vikings in the late 9th century CECommon Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. The name Vopnafjörður literally means Weapon Fjord or Weapon Bay, and comes from the nickname of one of the settlers, Eyvindur vopni.
Disputes between local chieftains led to a number of killings in the 10th century. The story of the disputes is told in Vopnfirðinga saga
Vápnfirðinga saga
Vápnfirðinga saga or Vopnfirðinga saga , named after Vopnafjörður, Iceland, is one of the sagas of Icelanders. It in basic terms tells of Helgi Þorgilsson, relative to Erik red, of his murder and subsequent retaliation.-External links:**...
, one of the classic Sagas of Icelanders, a series of epic family histories written in the 13th century.
Little is known about the history of Vopnafjörður after Iceland lost its independence to Norway in 1264. Foreign mechants sailed to Vopnafjörður in the early modern age, and it was one of three trade ports in East Iceland in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Danish trading company Ørum & Wulff had extensive operations in Vopnafjörður in the 19th century. A local cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
, Kaupfélag Vopnfirðinga, was established in 1918, and was one of Vopnafjörður's largest employers throughout the 20th century, but filed for bankruptcy in 2004.
In the late 19th century, poor farmers were forced to move into the mountains above Vopnafjörður, when they could no longer afford living on densely-populated land in the lowlands. For several decades, many families lived in the highlands, experiencing extreme hardship. The highland farms inspired the setting of the novel Independent People
Independent People
Independent People is an epic novel by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, originally published in two volumes in 1934 and 1935; literally the title means "Self-standing [i.e. self-reliant] folk"...
by Halldór Laxness
Halldór Laxness
Halldór Kiljan Laxness was a twentieth-century Icelandic writer. Throughout his career Laxness wrote poetry, newspaper articles, plays, travelogues, short stories, and novels...
. The book helped him win the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
in 1955.
Modern infrastructure, including roads, harbors and bridges, was first introduced in Vopnafjörður in the early 20th century. Today, new infrastructure is of highest standards.
Emigration to America
Vopnafjörður was the largest port of Icelandic emigration to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thousands of North Americans have ancestors who lived in Vopnafjörður.Geography
Vopnafjörður is located in Northeast Iceland. The Vopnafjörður area coastline is characterized by the Tangi peninsula, coastal rocks, islets, coves, river mouths, and black sand beaches.During the Ice Age (up to 10,000 years ago) a large glacier covered the bay. The Ice Age Glacier carved the diverse mountains and rock formations that characterize the area. After the Ice Age, the land rose as the heavy load of the glacier fell away, and began to look as it does today.
The largest river to run into the bay is Hofsá, one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the country. Krossavík Mountains at 1077 metres (3,533.5 ft), tower over the bay.
The village of Vopnafjörður is located on the Tangi peninsula in the middle of the bay. Surrounding farms reach far into Hofsárdalur and Vesturárdalur valleys, and to the northern coast of the bay.
Climate
Despite its extreme north Atlantic location, Vopnafjörður is much warmer than most locations at a similar latitude. Temperatures very rarely drop below −10 °C (14 °F) in the winter. This is because the Icelandic coastal weather in winter is moderated by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Summers are cool, with temperatures sometimes reaching 20 °C (68 °F).Administration
The local government is the municipality of Vopnafjarðarhreppur, which is governed by the municipal council. The council has seven members who are elected in direct elections by the residents of Vopnafjordur for four-year terms. Anyone who is 18 years or older and has his or her legal domicile registered in Vopnafjordur has the right to participate in the local elections. The last municipal elections were held in May 2010.Demographics
On 1 January 2011, the population of Vopnafjörður was 668, of which 529 lived in the village, and 139 in the rural part of the municipality. 350 were males and 318 females. 146 were under 18 years of age.In 2010, the total population was 683, of which 666 people held Icelandic citizenship. 17 were citizens of other countries, and did not hold dual Icelandic citizenship. Four of those were Danish citizens, one Finnish, three German, one Latvian, one Mexican, one Dutch, one Swiss, three Thai, one British, and one US.
The total population of Vopnafjörður was 987 in 1901, 677 in 1950, 908 in 1990, and 789 in 2000.
Main sights
- Bustarfell, folk museum
- Gljúfursárfoss, waterfall on Vopnafjörður's southern coast.
- Highland farms, the setting that inspired Nobel Prize-winning author Halldór LaxnessHalldór LaxnessHalldór Kiljan Laxness was a twentieth-century Icelandic writer. Throughout his career Laxness wrote poetry, newspaper articles, plays, travelogues, short stories, and novels...
' novel Independent PeopleIndependent PeopleIndependent People is an epic novel by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, originally published in two volumes in 1934 and 1935; literally the title means "Self-standing [i.e. self-reliant] folk"...
. - Ljótsstaðir, childhood home of Gunnar GunnarssonGunnar GunnarssonGunnar Gunnarsson was an Icelandic author who wrote mainly in Danish. He grew up, in considerable poverty, on Valþjófsstaður in Fljótsdalur valley and on Ljótsstaðir in Vopnafjörður...
. - Múlastofa, a museum about the lives and art of Vopnafjörður-born musicians and playwrights Jón Múli Árnason and Jónas Árnason.
People from Vopnafjörður
- Björgvin GuðmundssonBjörgvin GuðmundssonBjörgvin Guðmundsson was an Icelandic composer. He was born at Rjúpnafell, Vopnafjörður, Iceland, where he grew up. In Vopnafjörður he showed inclination for music, and in his twenties Björgvin moved with his family to the Icelandic colonies in Canada, where he stayed until 1926...
, composer - Gunnar GunnarssonGunnar GunnarssonGunnar Gunnarsson was an Icelandic author who wrote mainly in Danish. He grew up, in considerable poverty, on Valþjófsstaður in Fljótsdalur valley and on Ljótsstaðir in Vopnafjörður...
, writer - Jón Múli Árnason, musician, playwright and radio host
- Jónas Árnason, playwright and lyricist
- Linda PétursdóttirLinda PétursdóttirLinda Pétursdóttir is a former Miss World from Vopnafjörður, Iceland. She is now a business woman running Baðhúsið, The Bath House, a ladies-only health spa. After a period in Vancouver, Canada, she has returned to her native Iceland and given birth to a daughter Isabella Cohen.-External links:*...
, businesswoman and Miss World 1988Miss World 1988The 38th Miss World Pageant was held on November 17, 1988 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. The winner was Linda Pétursdóttir from Iceland. Runner up was Yeon-hee Choi representing Korea and third was Kirsty Roper from the United Kingdom... - Pálmi GunnarssonPálmi GunnarssonPálmi Gunnarsson is an Icelandic musician, who was involved in some of the country's most popular musical acts in the 1970s and into the 1980s, including Mannakorn and Brunaliðið...
, pop singer - Sigurður ÞórarinssonSigurður ÞórarinssonSigurður Þórarinsson was an Icelandic geologist, volcanologist, glaciologist, professor and lyricist. He is considered a pioneer in the field of tephrochronology, and he made significant contributions in many areas of geology, especially volcanology and glaciology, both in Iceland and...
, geologist and lyricist