Budardalur and Erik the Red's Farm at Haukadalur
Budardalur and Erik the Red's Farm at Haukadalur
Sited at the gateway to the West Fjords, Budardalur is a small service town at the head of boot-shaped Hvammsfjordur. In nearby Haukadalur, visitors can look around the excavated site of Erik the Red’s farm and for a small charge visit the reconstruction of the turf and stone homestead.
Around 982 Erik the Red was outlawed after a dispute with his neighbors escalated into a full-blown vengeance feud. Erik set sail for Greenland and returned briefly to sing its praises and encourage others to settle there in 985. Of the 25 ships that set sail, 14 arrived while the rest either turned back or disappeared. At their most numerous Greenland’s Norse inhabitants may have numbered 5000, but by the late 15th century they had all died out under circumstances that are not yet fully understood.