Ingólfr Arnarson

Life

Because of disputes dismissed from his land ownership in Norway, Ingólfur Arnarson decided to emigrate with his family and followers. He settled first on an island down, which is upstream of Iceland and to this day bears the name Ingólfshöfði. After his blood brother Hjörleifur Hróðmarsson was killed on a neighboring island by his Irish slaves and Ingólfur Arnarson had taken vengeance on the murderers, he left the island, threw in accordance with ancient custom, the high- seat pillars of his former house from Norway into the sea and vowed there to build his new residence where they would be stranded. So he came to a bay with hot springs. There he finally settled down, and called the place Reykjavík.

In Reykjavík on the Arnarhóll above the Lækjartorg is a body set up by the artist Einar Jónsson bronze statue Ingólfur. An identical statue is found in Rivedal in Norway, the site of the Arnarson set off on his journey.