Miklabæjar-Sólveig () was an

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 ...

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

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

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 and pure affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dic ...

affair with Reverend Oddur, a

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, 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 Peninsula to the west. There are t ...

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

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

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 in 1937. The tale has been compared to

gothic romance Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

.''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