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Skjálfandi (; also known as Skjálfandaflói ) is a 
The only town in Skjálfandi Bay is Húsavík, facing the snow-covered Víknafjöll and Kinnarfjöll mountain ranges on the other side of the bay. The highest point reaches around .
The bay is known for its many different whale, dolphin and bird species.
There are two islands in Skjálfandi. The larger one is Flatey (''flat island''). It is situated close to the opposite side of the bay from Húsavík. There is a village on the island, no longer inhabited, composed of a few houses, a school and a church. There is no ferry serving Flatey. Skjálfandi's smaller island is called Lundey. Its name means ''island of the puffins'' because of the great colony of puffins living on its cliffs during the summer. Lundey is located north from Húsavík.
Garðar Svavarsson was one of the first Scandinavians to settle in Iceland, doing so around 860 CE. He built a house in Skjálfandi, but spent only the following winter months there before leaving Iceland. His slave Náttfari was left behind and continued to live on the farm but was chased away from it later by a Norse settler, forcing Náttfari to build a new farm on poorer land in Náttfaravík (; Old Norse: ) by Skjálfandi.
Photo of the port of Húsavík with the bay
Fjords of Iceland North Iceland Viking Age populated places {{iceland-fjord-stub
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
in northern Iceland, with some of the characteristics of a fjord. The Icelandic word ''Skjálfandi'' literally translates to ''trembling'' which may refer to earthquakes in the area.
The bay, originally created by glacial activity, has two major rivers flowing into it: Skjálfandafljót
The Skjálfandafljót River () is situated in the north of Iceland. Skjálfandafljót is long, and is the fourth longest river of Iceland.
It has its source at the northwestern border of the icecap Vatnajökull on the Highlands of Iceland. From ...
, which is a glacier river
The Glacier River is a river southwest of Whittier near the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. It rises in a remote valley from a glacial meltwater lake from Twentymile glacier and flows out into a large, wide valley where it receives the water of the C ...
, and Laxá, which is a freshwater river
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
. The river Laxá ("Salmon River") is famous for its salmon and part of the river is protected by the Ramsar Convention.
The only town in Skjálfandi Bay is Húsavík, facing the snow-covered Víknafjöll and Kinnarfjöll mountain ranges on the other side of the bay. The highest point reaches around .
The bay is known for its many different whale, dolphin and bird species.
There are two islands in Skjálfandi. The larger one is Flatey (''flat island''). It is situated close to the opposite side of the bay from Húsavík. There is a village on the island, no longer inhabited, composed of a few houses, a school and a church. There is no ferry serving Flatey. Skjálfandi's smaller island is called Lundey. Its name means ''island of the puffins'' because of the great colony of puffins living on its cliffs during the summer. Lundey is located north from Húsavík.
Garðar Svavarsson was one of the first Scandinavians to settle in Iceland, doing so around 860 CE. He built a house in Skjálfandi, but spent only the following winter months there before leaving Iceland. His slave Náttfari was left behind and continued to live on the farm but was chased away from it later by a Norse settler, forcing Náttfari to build a new farm on poorer land in Náttfaravík (; Old Norse: ) by Skjálfandi.
Panorama
See also
*Fjords of Iceland
The fjords of Iceland, listed in a clockwise direction round the island from the SW to the east. There are no important fjords along the south coast: most of the inlets there are lagoons.
Western fjords
*Faxaflói
** Stakksfjörður
** Hafnarfj� ...
References
External links
Photo of the port of Húsavík with the bay
Fjords of Iceland North Iceland Viking Age populated places {{iceland-fjord-stub