The Battle of the Gulf () was a naval battle on 25 June 1244 in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Húnaflói Húnaflói (, "Huna Bay") is a large bay between Strandir and Skagaströnd in Iceland. It is about wide and long. The towns Blönduós and Skagaströnd are located on the bay's eastern side. Fauna The bay has been proposed as a protecte ...

Bay, during the

Age of the Sturlungs The Age of the Sturlungs or the Sturlung Era ( is, Sturlungaöld ) was a 42–44 year period of violent internal strife in mid-13th century Iceland. It is documented in the Sturlunga saga. This period is marked by the conflicts of local chieftai ...

civil war. The conflicting parties were the followers of

Þórður kakali Sighvatsson Þórður kakali Sighvatsson (c.1210-56) (the nickname ''kakali'' probably means "The Stammerer", although Cleasby-Vigfússon and Elizabeth Ashman-Rowe translate it as “the Claypot”) was a 13th-century Icelandic chieftain during the Age of the ...

and those of

Kolbeinn ungi Arnórsson Kolbeinn ungi Arnórsson (1208 – 22 July 1245) was an Icelandic chieftain or ''goði'' of the Ásbirningar family clan. He fought with Gissur Þorvaldsson against the Sturlungs in the Icelandic civil war during the Age of the Sturlungs. His h ...

. Þórður's men were from the

Westfjords The Westfjords or West Fjords ( is, Vestfirðir , ISO 3166-2:IS: IS-4) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district, the least populous administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast ...

of Iceland, while Kolbeinn's were northerners. The primary weapons were rocks hurled between boats. A detailed description of the battle can be found in ''

Sturlunga saga ''Sturlunga saga'' (often called simply ''Sturlunga'') is a collection of Icelandic sagas by various authors from the 12th and 13th centuries; it was assembled in about 1300. It mostly deals with the story of the Sturlungs, a powerful family clan ...

''.

References

*Jón Jóhannesson, Magnús Finnbogason and Kristján Eldjárn (eds.) ''Sturlunga Saga'', Vol 1 & 2, Sturlunguútgáfan, Reykjavík - 1946 1244 in Europe Battle of Orlygsstadir the Gulf the Gulf {{Battle-stub