Column: Hammer Þór in Iceland – Interview with Ragnheiði Gló Gylfadóttir
Pagan perspective
A farmstead from the Viking Age was found earlier this month by a local in Þjórsárdal in the southern highlands of Iceland.
Bergur Þór Björnsson is the great-grandson of the man who discovered the region’s newest Viking town in 1920. With his new discovery, the total number of known towns stands at twenty-one.
Archaeologists from Archaeological Institute of Iceland (“Archaeology Institute of Iceland”) was called to the scene and soon found several small items. Among them was a Thor’s hammer An amulet, only the second one ever found in Iceland. Adolf Friðrikssondirector of the Foundation, told me that the source search so far indicates that this is the first Mjölnir pendant made of stone that has been found anywhere.
i talked to Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttirthe archaeologist of Fornleifastofnun Iceland who investigated the find, about the place, the discovery and newly found objects.
Villiveðin: What effect did the explosion in Hekla in 1104 have on a farm in Þjórsárdal?
Ragnheiður Gló Gylfadóttir: This is not easy to answer. The valley was not all deserted at the same time.
Tephra[1] a layer of 1104 probably covered the valley, but there is evidence of habitation in the valley until the twelfth century. One of the farms, for example, fell out of use in the late sixteenth century, and two farms are still inhabited.
TWH: Have any other towns in this area been excavated?
RGG: This deserted valley has occupied a large place in Icelandic archeology for almost a century and a half. It is often referred to as the “Pompeii of Iceland”. About fifteen to twenty Viking Age sites and towns are known in the valley, and the first excavations there took place in the late 1990s.
In 1939, a group of Nordic archaeologists came to Iceland to study Viking Age and Medieval houses as the key to understanding the development of Nordic building practices. Then six towns were excavated in Þjórsárdal, Stöng being the most famous.
Since then, there has been a lively – and sometimes vicious – debate over the timing of the valley’s abandonment. Several “follow-up” excavations have been carried out, the most recent in 2000-2001.
A total of about two thousand artefacts have been found from the towns, mostly from the ninth to the twelfth century.
TWH: Has the National Forestry’s soil reclamation and reforestation projects in the area affected archaeological discoveries and excavations?
RGG: Yes, they have. Some parts of the valley are now covered with forest and some places have “disappeared” because of it.
TWH: How did Bergur Þór Björnsson discover the town of Bergstaði?
RGG: He was born and raised on a farm in Þjórsárdal, one of the two settlements in the valley. He felt a “gap” in the spread of Viking towns and decided to try to find evidence of habitation there.
TWH: What is the research and collection protocol when you receive information about a new find like this from Berg?
RGG: The Cultural Heritage Foundation of Iceland archaeological remains, finds or artefacts should be reported as soon as possible. If any artifacts are found, they should be returned National Museum of Iceland.
The Archaeological Institute, where I work, has no role when people find new things or archaeological remains in Iceland. The organization is privately owned and we do both research and commercial work.
We were working in Þjórsárdal at the municipality when Berg was interviewed and he informed us about the site. The project consisted of measuring and surveying all known archaeological remains in the municipality, also outside Þjórsárdal.
Of course, we followed the law and reported the farm and the meeting to the Cultural Heritage Foundation. The meeting goes to the National Museum.
The entire session was measured on site with a total station[2]and the middle[3] also. We hope to do more research in the area later. No digging has been done there yet.
TWH: What living and working structures were visible at the site?
RGG: The site is eroded and no structures are visible on the surface. We found a middle ground. A large part is probably gone. There is also evidence of a workshop. There is slag on the surface.
TWH: Magazine of Iceland reports that “[w]when archaeologists arrived on the scene, they could immediately see that Bergur was right: the foundation of a long house from the Viking Age was clearly visible in the ground, as well as various other remains” (sic). Can you explain what you saw on the page?
RGG: There were no structures, only a few stones and large and slag where the forge was probably.
TWH: Can you explain what objects have been found so far?
RGG: The objects were found in the center and the forge, lying on the surface. We found Þórsham’s amulet, whetstones, part of a soapstone pot and an iron buckle. I cannot explain why these things were there at that time.
TWH: In the picture I’ve seen, Thor’s Hammer Amulet appears to have runes carved into it. Do you think they are?
RGG: These are not runes, or so we believe at this time. The amulet is made of sandstone and therefore scratches easily. It has been lying in the ground for about 1100 years, among sharp pumice stones from Heklugos.
TWH: Does the Thor’s hammer have a hole in the shaft to be strung as an amulet?
RGG: No, the hole or shaft is broken and the amulet is missing.
TWH: If the town was abandoned in 1104 and the Þórshamar was found in the topsoil, do you think at this stage of the research that this object was in use a century after Iceland’s official conversion to Christianity?
RGG: We do not know when the town was deserted. Tephra from different eruptions is on the surface and no excavations have been done. The town, like large parts of Þjórsárdal, is eroded and the soil moves easily.
TWH: What will happen to things now?
RGG: We will go to the National Museum of Iceland, the National Museum of Iceland.
TWH: What are the organization’s plans for further excavation?
RGG: We hope to excavate the site and do further research there. The place is very interesting and nothing else is known in Þjórsárdal.
[1] Fragments of dust and rock drifted into the air as a result of the eruption.
[2] An electronic device that simultaneously measures the horizontal and vertical position of an object.
[3] Garbage dump.
Thanks to Ragnheiðar Gló Gylfadóttir for being so generous with her time and to Adolf Friðriksson, director of the Archaeological Institute of Iceland, for his good help and permission to use public photographs of the objects.