Helgafell (, "holy mountain") is a small mountain on the
Snæfellsnes
The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland.
The Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland, can be found in the area. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest ...
Peninsula of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
. The mountain is high. A temple in honor of
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
(''Þór'') was built there by Þórólfr Mostrarskegg, the first settler of the area.
His biography is described in literary form with fictional and mythical elements in ''
Eyrbyggja saga''.
Helgafell also appears in the ''
Laxdæla saga'' as the location where the heroine
Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir
Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; 10th century – 11th century), was an Icelandic woman who was famed for her great wisdom and beauty. She was married four times.
She is the main protagonist of the Medieval Icela ...
last lived and is supposedly where she is buried.
See also
*
Death in Norse paganism
Death in Norse paganism was associated with diverse customs and beliefs that varied with time, location and social group, and did not form a structured, uniform system. After the funeral, the individual could to a range of afterlives including Val ...
References
Mountains of Iceland
Snæfellsnes
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