Hegranes
| Etymology | Icelandic for "heron peninsula" |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Héraðsvötn |
| Coordinates | 65°42′N 19°28′W / 65.700°N 19.467°W |
| Length | 15 km (9.3 mi) |
| Administration | |
| county | Skagafjörður (municipality) |
| Additional information | |
| ISO code | is |
Hegranes is the name of the peninsula between the branches of the Héraðsvötn river in Skagafjörður, Iceland. Although Hegranes is called a peninsula (its name is derived from hegri "heron" and nes "peninsula"), it is actually an island about 15 kilometers long with a fairly tall, rocky headland covered in vegetation.[1] Héraðsvötn's western estuary hews closely to the west side of the peninsula, but there is a large, sandy area before the peninsula reaches the eastern estuary. Off the southern end of the peninsula, there is a delta called Austara-Eylendið. It has diverse avian life and vegetation and is home to a natural heritage site.[2]
History
Hegranes was previously its own rural district, or hreppur, called Rípurhreppur, which has since become a part of the larger municipality of Skagafjörður.[3]
The region's church is located in Ríp.[4] One of the first women's schools in the country was founded in Ás in Hegranes in fall 1877, but it only stayed open for one year.[5]
In the town of Keldudalur, in Hegranes, there has been extensive progress in archeological excavations. Ruins dating to the 10th to 12th centuries have been unearthed.[6]
According to local folk beliefs, many elves, or 'hidden folk', have settlements in Hegranes. This belief holds some influence over road construction.[7]
Hegranesþing
Hegranesþing refers to spring sessions of parliament during the Icelandic Commonwealth era that were held on the Garður property in Hegranes.[8] The quarterly assembly (fjórðungsþing, an assembly historically held for a quadrant of the country) was also held there.[1] The county had long shared a name with the assembly and was known as Hegranesþing (Hegranes assembly) or Hegranessýsla (Hegranes County).[9] It is centrally located in the region and was ideally located for both land and sea transport, and it is thought that the sea used to reach the slope at the lower edge of the parliament site.
The parliament was around 500 meters away from the farm Garður and there may be several dozen ruins, most of which are probably the remains of camps set up when parliament was in session. Excavations of the cemetery have also uncovered a circular garden[10] that seems to have been in use around the 11th or 12th centuries and may reveal important information about the farm's fence, which was by the parliament grounds.[11]
Hegranesþing appears in several of the sagas, including Grettis saga, which says that the outlaw Grettir arrived at parliament in disguise and was offered full amnesty during the parliamentary session if he was willing to fight Skagafjörður's greatest warriors.[12] However, the most famous event that took place in Hegranesþing is probably when the people of Skagafjörður mobbed Álfur úr Króki (Álfur of Krókur) who was the envoy of the Norwegian king in 1305. It was a difficult fight, but Álfur managed to escape. He was banished to Eyjafjörður, where he died some time later.[13]
The parliament disbanded around the 14th century.[14] The location of the parliament is a protected site, but little research has yet been done there.[15]
References
- ^ a b "Hegranes - NAT ferðavísir". nat.is (in Icelandic). 2020-05-04. Archived from the original on 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ^ "Umhverfisstofnun | Norðvesturland". Umhverfisstofnun (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2024-05-13.
- ^ "Fróðleikur um Skagafjörð" [Information about Skagafjörður]. Skagafjörður (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 2025-02-09. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ^ Andresson, Thorarinn. "Rípurkirkja". kirkjukort.net (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ^ Halldórsdóttir, Erla Hulda; Jónatansdóttir, Erla Hulda, eds. (1998). "Skólar og Menntun" [Schools and Education]. Ártöl og áfangar í sögu íslenskra kvenna [Trials and achievements in the history of Icelandic women] (in Icelandic). Reykjavík: Kvennasögusafn Íslands. p. 30.
- ^ Zoëga, Guðný (2008). "Keldudalur í Hegranesi: Fornleifarannsóknir 2002–2007" [Keldudalur in Hegranes: Archaeological Research 2002–2007] (PDF). rafhaldan.is (in Icelandic). Byggðasafns Skagafirðinga. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ^ Ingólfsson, Viktor Arnar (2016-11-14). "Eru þekkt dæmi um að álfar eða huldufólk hafi stoppað vegagerð?" [Are there any known examples of elves or hidden folk stopping road construction?]. Vísindavefurinn (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 2024-11-08. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
- ^ Normann, Jón. "Garður". nafnið.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ^ Sigurðsson, Ólafur (1959-03-23). "Hegranes". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 4. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ Damiata, Brian N.; Steinberg, John M.; Zoëga, Guðný; Shepard, Rita V.; Schoenfelder, John W.; Bolender, Douglas J. (2018). "Hegranesþing: Geophysical Prospection, Coring and Excavation Interim Report 2017" (PDF). fiskecenter.umb.edu. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ Zoëga, Guðný; Bolender, Douglas (2017). "Keflavík on Hegranes: Cemetery Excavation Interim Report 2017" (PDF). minjastofnun.is. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ "72. kafli" [Chapter 72]. Grettis Saga (in Icelandic).
- ^ Saga Menntaskólans á Akureyri 1880–1980 1. bindi [History of grammar schools in Akureyri 1880–1980, volume 1] (in Icelandic). Akureyri. 1981. p. 23.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Íslenskir þingstaðir" [Icelandic parliament locations]. Lögrétta (in Icelandic). 1930-06-25. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ Jónsdóttir, Kristín S.; Stefánsson, Björn (2016-06-06). "Efni: Lýsing. Tillaga að deiliskpulagi fyrir Hegranesþing í landi Garðs í Hegranesi, Sveitarfélaginu Skagafirði" [Subject: Description. Proposal for a detailed plan for Hegranesþing in the land of Garður in Hegranes, Skagafjörður Municipality] (PDF). ust.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2025-07-25.