Hellnar

Hellnar is a must-stop on a trip around the Snæfellsnes peninsula in W-Iceland, for three reasons: 1) It is a gateway to the Snæfellsnes National Park, with a visitor centre, 2) it has a wonderful coast, with fascinating lava rock formations and rich birdlife and 3) it has arguable the loveliest (fair weather) coffeehouse in Iceland, with a view of this coastline from its patio. Hellnar is one of several old fishing outposts at the tip of the peninsula. The two best-known historical figures who lived at Hellnar are Bárður Snæfellsás and Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir. Bárður was a settler in the late 9th Century of Sami descent from northern Norway; he was a sorcerer who is said to have disappeared into the Snæfellsjökull glacier when he wished to leave human society, where his soul still resides. Guðríður is a less mythical figure, with a fascinating life. She was born here in the latter part of the tenth century, and sailed as a young woman to Greenland with her parents around the year 1000. From there she travelled to Vinland (todays North America), and while there she gave birth to her son Snorri, who then became the first child of European origin to be born in America. She later went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and may have been the most widely travelled woman in Europe in the Middle Ages.