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Ofeigsfjordur

Region: Strandir
Coordinates: 66.06° N 21.70° W

About Ofeigsfjordur

The Ofeigur Bay is divided into three fiords, furthest east the Ingolfsfiord, in the middle Ofeigsfiord, and furthest west Eyvindarfiord.

Sagas of Iceland Those fiords were named after three brothers, the sons of the Norwegian Herraudur White Cloud (hvitasky), who settled there. According to the land registry of 1706 the farm in Ofeigsfiord was abandoned, but soon afterwards it was re-inhabited. The register also states, that the most important advantages of the property were seal hunting, driftwood collecting and processing, eiderdown and the winter grazings on the shoreline. The greatest disadvantages were the long and hard winters and the long and dangerous way to the nearest church. The farm was abandoned in the sixties, but the driftwood and the eider colonies are exploited every summer.

The eiderdown is mainly collected on the islet Hrutey just off the headland Hruteyjarnesmuli, and also around the farmhouses. Sustenance fisheries were also practiced during the centuries and the shark fishing was an important enterprise until 1915. The shark fishing boat Ofeigur, now on display in the Folks’ Museum at Reykir on the Hruta Bay, was used for wood transport until 1933. During Catholic times a prayer chapel stood in Ofeigsfiord. Some geothermal activity was spotted in two places on the property.

Nowadays travellers use the nice camping grounds in Ofeigsfiord. Hikers in the northern Strandir area use them in the beginning or at the end of their hiking tours. The closest you get to Ofeigsfiord by car is Eyri on Ingolfsfiord, but a 4wd track continues all the way.

Ofeigsfjordur is on nat.is Saga Trail Strandir

Ofeigsfjordur in Icelandic

Photo Credit: Günter Frenz