Geldingaholt is a farm 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 ...

. It is west of the

Héraðsvötn Héraðsvötn (), whose name is often shortened to Vötn or Vötnin (and was called Jökulsá in previous centuries) is a glacier river in Iceland. It is formed by the confluence of Austari-Jökulsá and Vestari-Jökulsá. The Héraðsvötn is ...

and was previously a part of

Seyluhreppur Seyluhreppur is an old Icelandic ''hreppur'', or rural municipality, that is today part of the municipality of Skagafjörður. It is located to the west of the Héraðsvötn river in Skagafjörður county and is named after the town of Stóra-Se ...

. The farm is located on the eponymous rise in elevation in the Vallhólmur plain east of

Langholt Langholt is a district in Skagafjörður, Iceland that lies to the west of Héraðsvötn and alongside a broad, low hill that runs from Reykjarhóll along Varmahlíð, in the lee of Reynistaður to the north. The southern part of Langholt used to ...

, just north of

Varmahlíð Varmahlíð () is a small village in Skagafjörður, northern 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 E ...

. To the east of Geldingaholt runs the Húseyjarkvísl, where it is called Holtskvísl.

History

Geldingaholt was one of Skagafjörður’s large farms, and chieftains lived there in past centuries. Þórður kakali “the cackler” Sighvatsson lived there for a time before he was called to meet with the king of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He then put Oddur Þórarinsson in charge but, in January 1255, Eyjólfur ofsi “the raging” Þorsteinsson and Hrafn Oddsson mounted an attack against him, and Oddur was killed after mounting a vigorous defense. When Gissur Þorvaldsson was summoned to meet with the king of Norway in 1254 after the Flugmýri arson, Gissur appointed Oddur Þórarinsson over his kingdom in Skagafjörður and ruled from Geldingaholt. Eyjólfur ofsi and Hrafn Oddsson, along with their formidable troops, went to Oddur during the winter and killed him. There was a church dedicated to the

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

in Geldingaholt until 1756. Geldingaholt belonged the seat at

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the valley Hjaltadalur, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is t ...

and ran the estate for many centuries.

References

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