Iceland: Day 4 - Hvalfjörður

June 28, 2004

Hvalfjörður is a scenic, mountainous fjord said to be one of the most beautiful in all Iceland. After the 2nd World War, a whaling station was started here near Saurbaer and was the longest running station in the country. There has been no whaling in Icelandic waters since 1989.

the abandoned whale processing plant

Hvalfjordur is a name derived from the legend about the red headed whale "Raudhofdi" (Redhead). This is the story as our guide told it to us:

In Iceland there are many elves. You don't see them very often but they can come to the aid of humans who are in trouble. When you help an elf, you are asked to promise something in return and you must never break your promise!

So one day a bunch of locals headed off in the spring to an island offshore to collect birds eggs. While they were on their way, a huge storm came up and one of the guys went missing. Everyone in the village was very sad and they held a memorial service for him. The next year, the same guys went back to the island again and first thing on the island, who comes to join them but the guy who they thought had perished in the storm! Well, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, no one asked him any questions and just welcomed him back to the village with open arms.

Several weeks later, while everyone was coming out of Sunday mass at the church, the elfen Queen showed up with a baby in her arms. She walked up to the 'missing' man and handed him the baby. He ignored her and tried to walk past her but she persisted in trying to give him the baby saying "You promised." The man pretended that he had no idea who she was or what she was talking about and refused to live up to his promise to take the baby. Finally the elfen Queen got very angry and because he had broken his promise she turned him into a whale.

The whale was obviously very upset and angry and the bay which had always been a great fishing spot suddenly became very treacherous because of the dangers of this angry whale. Years went by and finally the locals couldn't take it any more. They decided to go visit the local priest who was also known to be a
sorcerer and asked him to help them get rid of the whale. So the priest walked to the edge of the water, placed his staff in the water, and put a spell on the whale to follow him. He walked and walked along the shore, until he came to astream, the whale struggling to keep behind him. He came to a waterfall and climbed up beside it to the lake above. The whale struggled and struggled and finally made it up to the lake where he was so exhausted that he died. And that was how Hvalfjordur got rid of its angry whale and why whale bones were found in Hvalvatn (Whale Lake).

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