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HEGGSSTADIR

Region: West Iceland
Coordinates: 64.5801° N 21.70° W

The official magistrate assemblies for County Andakill took place at farm Heggsstadir, where there are ruins, one of them large and round, which have been declared inviolate. The round ruin might depict a so-called judicial sitting ring, but it has not yet been possible to confirm any of the many round shaped ruins all over the country as such, and none of them have been traced back to the Free State Period (930-1262). Some topographic names in the vicinity suggest the purpose of this round area, such as the Gallow, the Gallow Hills and the Gallow Pass. Nevertheless, convictions were proclaimed here from the end of the 15th century.

The Egil’s Saga mentions the settler Heggur at Heggsstadir. When Egill Skallagrimsson was seven, he once played with Heggur’s son, Grimur, who was Sagas of Iceland10 or 11 years old at the time. Egill lost at the ball game they were playing and killed Grimur. Heggur, his brother Kvigur, and a few workers were killed in the aftermath of this incident and are said to be buried within the ring. According to oral legends, the farmers of Heggsstadir were obliged to maintain the ring properly to make the men buried there as comfortable as possible.

Heggstadir in Icelandic

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