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Baer Hrutafjordur

Region: Strandir
Coordinates: 65.2088° N 21.0984° W

The first settler at Farm Baer was a woman by the name Arndis The Wealthy Steinolfsdottir.
According to The Book of Settlements, Balki Blaengsson, who was the first settler on the Hruta Bay, spent his last years at Baer. This farm was an estate, occupied by many District Sheriffs and the assembly place of the county for centuries until the assembly was moved to Bordeyri in 1979. The property offers many advantages and nowadays two families in two farms live there. The spit of land down below on the bay is called Baejarnes. It was declared inviolate because of the interesting fossils of shells.
The islands Baejarey and Baldey and a few skerries are just off the coast and are colonized by eider ducks and sometimes driftwood finds its way to them.
Other benefits of the farm are peat, trout and char fishing in nearby lakes and lichens. Among the prominent personalities, who lived at Baer in the past was Thorleifur Kortsson, District Sheriff and Governor of the northern and western parts of the country. He is remembered for his involvement in witch hunting and his enthusiasm in finding witches and sorcerers to burn at the stake.
Just inside the home fields are ancient burial mounds called Thraelahaugar (The Slaves’ Mounds). Rev. Bui Jonsson, who wrote the annals of the Prestbakki benefice in the middle of the 19th century, claims to have found human bones there.