Hjörleifshöfði
| Hjörleifshöfði | |
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A view of Hjörleifshöfði from the foothills of Katla to the northwest
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 221 m (725 ft) |
| Coordinates | 63°25′00″N 18°46′00″W / 63.4167°N 18.7667°WCoordinates: 63°25′00″N 18°46′00″W / 63.4167°N 18.7667°W |
| Geography | |
 Hjörleifshöfði
Map of Iceland showing the location of Hjörleifshöfði
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| Location | Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla, Southern Region, Iceland |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Inselberg |
Hjörleifshöfði (Icelandic pronunciation: ['hjœːrˌlifs'hœːfˌði]; HYURR-leefs-HURF-thee) is a 221 m (725 ft)-high inselberg in southern Iceland. It consists of palagonite. The mountain is located on the Mýrdalssandur outwash plain about 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Vík í Mýrdal, and was an island in the Atlantic Ocean.
The name was given to the mountain by one of the first legendary settlers mentioned in the Landnámabók.
According to this, Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson was the brother-in-law of Ingólfur Arnarson, Iceland's first official settler. He settled at Hjörleifshöfði towards the end of the ninth century. There, however, he was slain by his slaves. The slaves fled to Vestmannaeyjar, where Ingólfur took his revenge for his friend and slew them.
On the top of the mountain is a mound called Hjörleifshaugur, where Hjörleifr is said to be buried.
The mountain is of volcanic origin but was covered by ice or seawater at the time of its formation, so it has a similar past as the nearby larger Hafursey mountain. Then it was an island surrounded by sea. At the time of the settlement of Iceland, it was already connected to the mainland, but there was still a fjord at its side, which was used to shore ships.
Later, the jökulhlaups, connected with the eruptions of the Katla volcano in Mýrdalsjökull, gathered so much sand and gravel that it was now not at the shore but surrounded by the mainland and the fjord was filled.
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Wikipedia