Arnarbæli Old Cemetery Travel Guide

Royal visit to Arnarbæli, 1907. Photo: Magnús Ólafsson, public domain

Arnarbæli Old Cemetery is the fenced churchyard of a vanished church at Arnarbæli, for centuries the leading manor and parsonage of Ölfus in South Iceland. The name is usually read as "eagle's lair" (örn, eagle; bæli, lair).

The farm stood on low ground beside the Ölfusá river, at the heart of a cluster of smallholdings known as Arnarbælishverfi, surrounded by the Arnarbælisforir wetlands.

The church was taken down in 1909 and the farm was abandoned later in the 20th century, but the cemetery remains, with a basalt-column memorial and an information board that tell the story of a place where, according to one theory, Njáls saga was written.

Key Takeaways About Arnarbæli í Ölfusi

• Churchyard of Arnarbæli, the leading manor and parsonage of Ölfus from c. 1200 until the church was dismantled in 1909
• Þorvarður Þórarinsson lived here from 1289; one theory makes him the author of Njáls saga
• Flattened by the earthquakes of 1706 and 1896; King Frederick VIII slept here in August 1907
• Free, open all year; about 55 km from Reykjavík at the end of Route 375, south of Hveragerði
• Passed on horseback by Eldhestar's black-sand beach ride from Þorlákshöfn

Why visit Arnarbæli Old Cemetery

A church at Arnarbæli is first mentioned around 1200, dedicated to St Nicholas, patron saint of seafarers. Tumi Sighvatsson of the Sturlung family is recorded as living here in the early 13th century, and in 1289 the chieftain Þorvarður Þórarinsson moved to Arnarbæli, where he spent his last seven years.

The National Archivist Barði Guðmundsson argued that Þorvarður was the author of Njáls saga and wrote it here. In 1510 the Bishop of Skálholt had the farm, then Crown property, awarded to the cathedral because the farmer was in debt to the church, and from 1580 Arnarbæli had a resident pastor.

Tradition holds that ocean-going ships once sailed up the Ölfusá river to Arnarbæli; the place-name Bjálkhús (from búlki, cargo) on the river bank points to goods being unloaded here, and the river has silted up heavily since.

The estate held driftwood rights, boat landings at Þorlákshöfn harbour and Selvogur, and salmon and seal hunting in the Ölfusá; the pastor leased meadowland to most of the farmers in Ölfus.

The site has been shaken flat more than once. In the great South Iceland earthquake of 1706 the farmhouse collapsed; the pastor, Hannes Erlingsson, escaped half-dressed through a broken wall with a baby in his arms.

In the earthquakes of late August and early September 1896 all eight houses of the farm complex and nine outbuildings fell, and the church was the only building left standing, though the shock shifted it on its foundation. Across Ölfus 183 farmhouses were destroyed.

In August 1907 King Frederick VIII of Denmark, riding from Reykjavík to Þingvellir, the Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir hot springs and the Þjórsá bridge, spent a night at Arnarbæli with Prince Harald and Iceland's minister Hannes Hafstein, while the rest of his party slept in tents.

Two years later, in 1909, the church was taken down and the parishes of Arnarbæli and Reykir were merged, with a new church at Kotströnd a few kilometres to the north-east.

The last pastor to live here, Helgi Sveinsson, moved to Hveragerði in the early 1940s; the farm was abandoned later in the 20th century and its last buildings removed.

Today the fenced churchyard with its three iron crosses, the basalt-column memorial inside the outline of the church, the farm mound and a large protected ruin on the low hill Þingholt north of the old home field are what remain, with wide views over the Ölfusá delta and the Flói bird reserve on the far bank.

How to get to Arnarbæli Old Cemetery

Arnarbæli is about 55 km (around 55 minutes) from Reykjavík. Take Route 1 over the Hellisheiði plateau past the town of Hveragerði and, about 2 km further on, leave it for Route 370 (Ölfusvegur) heading south.

After about 3 km turn right onto Route 375 (Arnarbælisvegur), paved at first and then gravel, which runs about 4.5 km south-west through the Arnarbælishverfi farms (Egilsstaðir, Hóll, Stöðlar) towards the Ölfusá and ends at Ósgerði.

The old Arnarbæli farm site and the churchyard lie just beyond, a few hundred metres west of the road end, marked by the information board; park on the verge or by the board without blocking farm access. Hveragerði, the nearest town, is about 10 km back by road.

No 4x4 is needed; the road is normally passable year-round, though it can be muddy or icy.

The Eldhestar riding tour listed below approaches from the opposite direction, along the black beach and up the Ölfusá delta on horseback.

Best time to visit

May to September, when the wetlands are alive with birds and the ground is dry enough to walk on. The riding tour operates from 15 May to 15 September. Autumn brings bird migration over the delta; in winter the flat land is exposed to wind and the gravel road can be icy.

Safety and practical tips

• This is working farmland. Keep to the road and the churchyard, close gates, and keep dogs on a lead; the surrounding Arnarbælisforir are wet bogland.
• The Ölfusá is a wide, cold glacial river with strong currents. Stay off the banks and out of the water.
• No facilities on site; the nearest cafés, fuel and toilets are in Hveragerði or the town of Selfoss.
• Free to visit, no opening hours.
• Respect the cemetery; it is still a burial ground with marked graves.