User:Spitzmauskc/Skagaströnd

Skagaströnd (, ; previously Höfðakaupstadur) is a small town in the Northwestern Region of Iceland. It is situated on the western side of the Skagi peninsula, on the east coast of the Húnaflói ('Húna Bay'). Skagaströnd is the seat of the Sveitarfélagið Skagaströnd ('Municipality of Skagaströnd') and is the only locality within the municipality.

Geography
Skagaströnd lies at the foot of the Spákonufell ('Seeress' Mountain'), a culturally significant landmark and the highest point in Sveitarfélagið Skagaströnd, standing 640 m above sea level. On the northwest edge of the village is the Spákonufellshöfði ('Headland of the Spákonufell'), a 22.5 ha nature preserve and park.

The nearest town is Blönduós, 18 km to the south. Road 74, by which Skagaströnd is connected to Route 1, begins at Blönduós' eastern limit. Skagaströnd is situated 32 km as the crow flies east-northeast of Sauðárkrókur, the regional capital of the Northwestern Region; however, due to the rough terrain the journey between the two settlements by road is more than 50 km.

Name
The name Skagaströnd translates to 'Coast of the Skagi' or, literally, 'Coast of the Peninsula,' from the Icelandic skagi, meaning 'peninsula' – which also serves as the proper name of the peninsula on which the municipality is located – and strönd meaning 'coast, beach, shore.' Skagaströnd originally referred to the entire shoreline extending from the northern tip of the Skagi peninsula to the mouth of the Laxá í Refasveit (also called Laxá-Ytri), a small river that empties into the Húnaflói 8 km north of Blönduós. The area historically hosted a number of verstöðvar, traditional fishing outposts and communal mooring places. The northern point of the Skagi is now situated in the northern portion of Skagabyggð and the Laxá í Refasveit forms the boundary between the municipality of Blönduósbær and the southern portion of Skagabyggð. Today, the name Skagaströnd is most often used to refer to the town and eponymous municipality, however, it is also used by Icelanders to refer to the traditional coastal area.

Þórdís
Skagaströnd is referenced in many of the sagas of Icelanders, always in association with The name of Skagaströnd's most prominent landmark, the Spákonufell, is derived from the Icelandic words spákona meaning 'seeress, prophetess, fortune teller' and fell meaning 'isolated mountain.' It is named after the seeress Þórdís ('Thordis,' distinguished in texts as Þórdís spákona), who is said to have settled in the farm at the foot of the mountain during the 10th century. Þórdís spákona appears in the Landnámabók, Þorvalds þáttur víðförla, and in several sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), including Heiðarvíga saga, Kormáks saga, and the Vatnsdæla saga. Described as a wise but "ill-tempered" woman, she ruled over a large portion of the northern Skagi, from the Laxá í Refasveit (Laxá-Ytri) to the Skagatá, the northeastern most point of the peninsula.

The tales about her suggest Þórdís commanded respect and that people of power and standing often sought her out to mediate and resolve disputes, as Kormákur Ögmundarson does in the Kormáks saga. Her abilities with magics are attested in the Vatnsdæla saga, in which she helps Þorkell krafla, the illegitimate son of the goði of Kornsá in Vatnsdalur, bewitch the memories of Guðmundur Eyjólfsson ríki from Möðruvellir in Hörgárdalur using her wand, causing Guðmundur riki to forget and remember an important event in a way that benefited both Þorkell krafla and Þórdís spákona. In Þorvalds þáttur víðförla, she becomes foster mother to the protagonist, Þorvaldur Koðránsson viðförli (Thorvald Konradsson Far-Farer) from Stóra-Giljá in Vatnsdalur, after witnessing how poorly his father, Koðrán, treated him in contrast to the attention and love shown to his elder brother, Ormur. After negotiating with Koðrán, Þórdís became Þorvaldur’s guardian and brought him to her home, Spákonufell, where he was well cared for, given clothes and other goods that he needed, and grew in a much better environment. Several legends about Þórdís are also included in Jón Árnason’s collections of folktales.

Notes

British and Hanseatic merchants likely traded in the area during the 15th and 16th centuries, until they were expelled after the establishment of the Danish trade monopoly in 1602. At that time the royal order was issued that the people from Húnavatnssýsla as well as from western Skagafjörður were only allowed to do business with the Danish merchants in Skagaströnd. At first, this only happened in summer, only from the beginning of the 18th century are permanent buildings occupied and from then on the Danish merchants also lived on site.

Like all of Iceland, the place slowly flourished in the 19th century. First under the merchant Christian G. Schram, later under the merchants Bergmann and Hildebrandt, although competition arose at the end of the 19th century. This intensified when businesses were also set up in Blönduós and Sauðárkrókur.

At the beginning of the 20th century, people in Skagaströnd began to get involved in fishing and fish processing, which have since been the main livelihoods in the town. As early as the years of the First World War, but also in the 1920s and 1930s, the fishing grounds in the Húnaflói were so excellent that up to 80 ships could be seen fishing at the same time. From the 1920s, the city's port was expanded, and even further after the Second World War. A cold store and a herring factory were built in 1944 and 1946. But the herrings were largely absent after the 1960s. Despite the further boom in the 1970s, it has not yet succeeded in attracting larger employers other than fishing and processing. In the meantime, however, tourism is also used. B. with the Wild West inn Kántrýbær.

British and Hanseatic traders

Danish merchants established the modern settlement of Skagaströnd

Höfði or Höfðakaupstadur (kaupstaðir – town with special administrative and trade status) – trading places used by the Danish

Vindhælishreppur (hreppur – rural community/district) in the county of Austur-Húnavatnssýsla

population was less than 100 at the beginning of the 20th century.

Hallbjörn Hjartarson, Kántríbær or Kántrýbær, Kántrýhátíð á Skagaströnd (Country Festival at Skagaströnd)

Culture

 * Sculpture of Jón Árnason, author of the first collection of Icelandic folktales
 * Spákonuhof – the Skagaströnd Museum of Prophecies
 * NES Artist Residency – a process-oriented artist residency hosting artists from around the world in all media. Housed in the old freezing plant, which was closed in the early 1990s
 * Hólaneskirkja
 * Árnes Museum – the Árnes house is the oldest house in Skagaströnd

Twin towns
Skagaströnd is twinned with:


 * 🇫🇮 Lohja, Finland
 * 🇸🇪 Växjö, Sweden