Höfðaströnd is a region on the coast around Hofsós on the eastern side of Skagafjörður, Iceland. Its southernmost farm is Gröf, and the closest to the sea is Höfði. The region is named after Þórðarhöfði, which is a predominant feature of the la ...

is a 202-meter-tall rocky

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

that runs toward the eastern side of

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 ...

directly north of

Hofsós Hofsós () is one of the oldest trading ports in northern Iceland dating back to the 16th century. The tiny village Hofsós in the Northern Region in Iceland was a rather busy trading post in the 17th and 18th century, but despite the merchant a ...

. At first glance, the headland seems like an island but it is connected to the mainland. Two low

isthmuses An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

, and , connect it to the land and there a is a large, 10-kilometer squared coastal lagoon between them called

Höfðavatn Höfðavatn () is a lagoon-like lake in northern Iceland. It is located in the municipality of Skagafjörður. Geography Höfðavatn lies at the fjord of Skagafjörður about 7 km north of the village of Hofsós. The surface of the Höfðavatn ...

, where there is excellent fishing for

arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic realm, Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It Spaw ...

. In the early 20th century, the poet

Jóhann Sigurjónsson Jóhann Sigurjónsson (June 19, 1880 – August 31, 1919) was an Icelandic playwright and poet. Atypically, Jóhann wrote plays and poetry in both his native Icelandic and in Danish. Biography Jóhann was the son of an Icelandic farmer and wa ...

proposed that an ocean liner harbor be built, but it did not happen. is the ruins of an old

volcanic eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

Basalt rock Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

formations are located in the stone, and these are best seen from the sea.

References

{{Authority control Headlands of Iceland Skagafjörður