Völvuleiði

About place

Situated some distance above the highway connecting the villages Reyðarfjörður and Eskifjörður is the burial mound of a prophetess said to be a guardian angel of the area. According to legend, as long as her bones remain intact - and the cairn indicating the site is maintained - the prophetess will continue to fulfill her protective role. Thus, in 1627 as the Algerian pirates who had previously pillaged the South and the Westman Islands, approached the eastern shore, the cunning lady produced a fog so massive that the scoundrels were compelled to take to the sea and abandon their lugubrious plans of manhunt and massacre.