Ábær () (from "farm of rivers") is an abandoned farm and church site in Austurdalur, on the eastern bank of the Austari-Jökulsá in

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. There is a small, concrete church that still stands in , although it was not consecrated until 1922. The farm itself became abandoned in 1941. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

was served by Goðdalir for a time and, in 1907, it was transferred to Mælifell. Önundur the wise, who settled the land in Austurdalur valley, lived in , according to the ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...

''.

History

The restaurant (now N1 ) in

Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur () is a Localities of Iceland, town on the Skagafjörður in northern Iceland. It is the seat of both the Skagafjörður (municipality), Sveitarfélagið Skagafjörður ('Municipality of Skagafjörður') and the Northwestern Re ...

derives its name from the farm, and

Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson (born 9 June 1968) is an Icelandic politician for the Centre Party. He is a member of the Althingi (Iceland's parliament) for the Centre Party for the Northwest of Iceland constituency since 2017. He was the chairman of ...

, member of parliament and former foreign minister, managed it, among other things, before beginning his work in parliament. There are many places named in Iceland but the name is unique in the country, and the topic was discussed in a widely known essay by Margeir Jónson called ("Obscure place names in County"). He explains that the farm is not only situated on one river, but two, and its tributaries by the farm, which form valley before reaching the farm and continuing slightly farther out of the ravine. Thus, the town was named "the farm between rivers," which in Old Norse was (compared to modern Icelandic: ). Shortly after 1100, there was some haziness surrounding the name, but it was resolved and the farm was given this name.

Ábær church

The church in was built in 1922, not long before the farm was abandoned. The church, which was designed by the State Architect of Iceland,

Guðjón Samúelsson Guðjón Samúelsson (16 April 1887 – 25 April 1950) was a State Architect of Iceland, and the first Icelander to be educated in architecture. He has been described as one of Iceland's most influential architects. His notable designs include th ...

, is small and made of concrete. Its materials came from Skagafjörður, but the wood used for the church, which was previously built in in 1842, was moved from

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

to valley in

Eyjafjörður Eyjafjörður (, ''Island Fjord'') is one of the longest fjords in Iceland. It is located in the central north of the country. Situated by the fjord is the country's fourth most populous municipality, Akureyri. Physical geography The fjord is ...

, and people hauled it over mountain on sleds. It is hard to go over the mountain with cargo because of how steep it is (however there was a frequently traveled horse path), so this was considered a feat. The church was previously served by , but it was transferred to in 1907. The church there always holds one mass per year, on the Sunday of Verslunarmannahelgin ("Merchant’s Weekend," a holiday and festival weekend in August). Often, more than 100 people attend the service and there is coffee served afterwards at Merkigil, which was abandoned in 1997. Merkigil is also where Helgi Jónsson fatally crashed into the ravine. He had been the only parishioner in for many years. Helgi’s siblings donated a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

to the church in his memory. It was built from

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

wood that grew in the river ravine.

Ábær ghost

The ghost is a female ghost in Icelandic folklore that is named after the farm. She has played tricks on many people, mainly in inner , including killing livestock, and frightening people. She is said to have caused multiple deaths.

References

Populated places in Northwestern Region (Iceland) Skagafjörður Icelandic folklore Churches in Iceland Farms in Iceland {{Authority control