Arnarstapi and the Story of Raudfeldur and Solvi (Rauðfeldur and Sölvi)
Arnarstapi and the Story of Raudfeldur and Solvi (Rauðfeldur and Sölvi)
At Arnarstapi village there is a huge statue of the giant Barður whose story is told in one of the Icelandic sagas, The Saga of Barður Snaefellsas.
Half man, half-giant, Barður was raised in Norway among dwarves but later settled in Iceland on Snaefellsnes. He became the protector of the glacier when he retreated into the mountain to avoid living among cruel men.
One day Rauðfeldur Þorkelsson and his brother Solvi, Barður’s nephews were playing with Barður’s daughter Helga. They put her on an iceberg that was drifting by and pushed it away from the shore, where it floated off to Greenland.
Barður became mad with anger and sorrow as he thought his daughter was gone forever. He took the brothers under each arm and threw Rauðfeldur into Rauðafeldsgja (named after him from then on) and threw Solvi into the ocean from a high cliff at Arnarstapi (today called Solvahamar rock).