Miklabæjar-Sólveig (died 11 April, 1778) () was an

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 ...

ic woman who lived in the late 18th century and the subject of local

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Legend

Sólveig is said to have committed suicide after an

unrequited love Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep affection, or may consciously reject it knowing that the admirer admires them. Me ...

affair with Reverend Oddur, a minister, at his manor 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 ...

. After the local church refused her dying request to be buried in the churchyard, her

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

supposedly haunted the manor, the minister, his family, and his staff. According to the tale, Sólveig's ghost was responsible for Reverend Oddur's later disappearance. Sólveig’s remains were moved to a cemetery in

Glaumbær Glaumbær is an Icelandic town and church site in the middle of Langholt, west of Héraðsvötn in Skagafjörður, formerly a part of the rural municipality Seyluhreppur. It is now home to the Skagafjörður Folk Museum. History The Glaumbær ...

in 1937. The tale has been compared to gothic romance.''Icelandic legends and fairy tales'' (Reykjavik 1980), p. 284-286. Arni Böðvarsson and Bjarni Vilhjálmsson

Popular culture

Poet

Einar Benediktsson Einar Benediktsson, often referred to as Einar Ben (31 October 1864 – 12 January 1940) was an Icelandic poet and lawyer. Einar Benediktsson's poetry was a significant contribution to the nationalistic revival which led to Iceland's independenc ...

wrote the poem “Hvarf séra Odds á Miklabæ” (The Disappearance of Reverend Oddur from Mikilbær) based on the legend of Oddur and Miklabæjar-Sólveig.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miklabaejar-Solveig 18th-century Icelandic people Icelandic folklore 18th-century Icelandic women