Borgarfjörður () is a fjord in the west 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 ...
near the town of
Borgarnes. Although the waters of Borgarfjörður appear calm, the fjord has significant undercurrents and shallows. The many flat islands lying in the
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...
are for the most part uninhabited.
Near Borgarnes, the ''
hringvegur
Route 1 or the Ring Road ( or ) is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country. As a major trunk route, it is considered to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in Iceland as it connects the majority of towns ...
'' (road no.1 or "ring road") passes over
Borgarfjarðarbrú, a bridge of 0.5 km in length at the inland portion of the fjord.
The land around the fjord has been inhabited since the time of Icelandic
settlement. Events in the
Icelandic sagas
The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early e ...
such as that of
Egill Skallagrímsson
Egil Skallagrímsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; 904 995) was a Viking Age war poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer.Thorsson, 3 He is known mainly as the anti-hero of '' Egil's Saga''. ''Egil's Saga'' historically narrates a period from ...
are situated here.
The name of the fjord seems to have come from the farm ''Borg'', which according to the sagas was founded by Egill's father
Skallagrímur, who took the land around the fjord and accordingly gave the fjord the name of Borgarfjörður.
While serving as a synonym for the various townships, farms, natural attractions and areas in the region, the various parts of Borgarfjörður are now generally referred to as
Borgarbyggð
Borgarbyggð () is a municipality in the west of Iceland.
The biggest township in the municipality is Borgarnes, with a population of 1,887 inhabitants. Other densely populated areas in the municipality include Bifröst, Hvanneyri, Kleppjárnsr ...
, a name that in
Icelandic denotes residential areas, populated places, such as
Borgarnes, tourist resorts and attractions, and less populated farms and more remote natural areas. The name Borgafjorður refers to the actual fjord and surrounding beaches as a natural habitat.
See also
*
Fjords of Iceland
*
History of Iceland
The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and the people they enslaved from the east, particularly Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest ...
*
Icelandic literature
Icelandic literature refers to literature written in Iceland or by Icelandic people. It is best known for the sagas written in medieval times, starting in the 13th century. As Icelandic and Old Norse are almost the same, and because Icelandic wor ...
External links
Off. website, westiceland
Fjords of Iceland
Western Region (Iceland)
{{iceland-fjord-stub