Keldur is a village in Rangárvellir on

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 ...

in the region of

Suðurland Southern Region ( , ) is a region of 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 an ...

. In the village there is an old manor house and the ruins of an old residence. In the manor, inhabited until 1946, there are some 20 buildings. To the north of the village is the

Hekla Hekla (), or Hecla, is an active stratovolcano in the south of Iceland with a height of . Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since the year 1210. During the Middle Ages, th ...

volcano. On 18 December 2001 the village was placed on Iceland's tentative world heritage list for its traditional turf-covered houses. On 7 February 2011 Iceland updated the list, placing Keldur on the tentative world heritage turf house tradition list.

History

The first known farmer at Keldur was Ingjaldur Höskuldsson; he is mentioned in the 13th century '' Njal's saga''. The farm later became the residence of the

Oddaverjar The Oddaverjar (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) were a powerful family clan in the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. They were based in Oddi at in South Iceland. Their ascendancy was during the second half of the 12th century, but their power subs ...

chieftains. The chief

Jón Loftsson Jón Loftsson (; ; c. 1124–1197) was chieftain of Oddi at Rangárvellir in the south part of Iceland. Jón Loftsson was a member of the Oddaverjar family clan. His parents were Loftur Sæmundsson and Þóra Magnúsdóttir. His pater ...

lived here and is believed to be buried in the village. In the 13th century, the chieftain Hálfdan Sæmundsson, grandson of Jón, and his wife

Steinvör Sighvatsdóttir Steinvör Sighvatsdóttir (early 13th–century – 17 October 1271; Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ), was the politically most influential woman in Iceland in the Age of the Sturlungs. She was also a skald and listed as such in ''Skáldat ...

lived at Keldur. The foundation of the residential building in Keldur is considered to be from the 11th century. The house is today the oldest in Iceland. The residence is now a museum. From the residential building, an old underground passage leads to the farm stream, which was rediscovered during an archaeological excavation in 1998. Such passages, called ''jarðhus'', are mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. In the past, the land north of Keldur was an overgrown area with several farms now buried in the black lava sand. The area was overgrown until the middle of the 19th century when the sand took over. The sand is believed to have arisen in connection with the eruption of

in 1511. When the thick layer of

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of extremely vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicula ...

settled after the volcanic eruption, south and southwest of Hekla, sand began to blow through wind erosion towards Rangárvellir and the village of Keldur. There has been a church in Keldur from the earliest times, and served from Odda. The current log church, called ''Keldnakirkja'' in Icelandic, was built in 1875. File:Keldur8.JPG, Gable end of one of the turf houses File:Church in Keldur.JPG, The ''Keldnakirkja'' church. Gables of turf houses in the village can be seen on the left.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Iceland