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Farm
Hvammur is a parsonage and a church site in Hvammur County
of the Dalir District with annexed
churches at Stadarholl, Skard, Stadarfell and Dagverdarnes.
Catholic churches were dedicated to God, the holy Mary, John the
Baptist, the apostles John and Peter, King Olaf of Norway, St. Thorlakur
bishop, Mary Magdalena and other saints.
The present church was consecrated in 1884.
It was built of wood and thoroughly renovated in the late 20th
century.
The
settler of the area, Audur Ketilsdottir, lived there and many other
remarkable personalities followed.
Among them was Thordur Gellir (10th century), who was
one of the most important chieftains of West Iceland in his time and
participated in the establishment of the so-called Quarter Courts to
improve the judicial system of the country.
Hvamms-Sturla Thordarson (1115-1183), the ancestor of the Sturlungar Dynasty and the
father of Snorri Sturluson, lived there.
He was a hard and a clever man, who is better dealt with in the
Sturlunga Saga.
Farm Hvammur is situated in the sheltered Skeggi Valley.
The legend has it, that the son of Thordur Gellir, Skeggi, lived
at Hvammur and the valley was named after him.
Two other farms in the valley, Skerdingsstadur and Hofakur, are
still inhabited.
An area of 55 ha was fenced of for forestation purposes. |