Njarðvík () is an ancient farm in northeast Iceland. The descendants of its settlers are featured in several of the

Sagas of Icelanders The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic Saga, sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and earl ...

History

Viking Age

The history of Njarðvík can be traced back to the

settlement of Iceland The settlement of Iceland ( ) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the ninth century, when Norsemen, Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration are uncertain: later in the Middle Ages Icel ...

, when Thorkel the Wise claimed all the land around the bay of Njarðvík.''The Book of Settlements'', Sturubók edition, ch. 78 His great-grandson Ketil Thrym lived at Njarðvík and became a chieftain after his father, Thidrandi the Old. Several other notable 10th- and 11th-century Icelanders were related to this family, who are known as the "House of Njarðvík" (Old Norse ''Njarðvíkingar''). ''The Saga of the People of Laxardal'' cites a lost "Saga of the House of Njarðvík," which may refer to a medieval text that no longer exists or else was renamed, or to an oral tradition.Gísli Sigurðsson, ''The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition: A Discourse on Method'', trans. Nicholas Jones, Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Lieterature, 2. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004

Sagas

Njarðvík is referenced in the following medieval Icelandic texts: * '' The Book of Settlements'' * '' The Short Saga of Gunnar, Thidrandi's Killer'' * '' The Saga of Droplaug's Sons'' * '' The Saga of the People of Fljotsdal'' * '' The Saga of the People of Laxardal''

References

Populated places in Iceland Sagas of Icelanders Farms in Iceland {{iceland-geo-stub