I'm in Iceland for a hiking trip, but while I'm here, I'm certainly going to check out some other sites. I start my adventures with a walking tour of the capital city, Reykjavik. I first visit a statue of the first permanent Norse settler of this island nation. Atop Arnorholl Hill in an ancient part of Reykjavik, Iceland, a statue honoring the Viking Ingolfur Arnorson was erected in 1924.
The figure holds a halberd against the side of his body while he salutes the what would have been the sea in his time and is now a market district of the city. His other arm rests on the head of a Viking dragon. The statue is roughly twelve feet tall and stands a top a large cubical pedestal raising the statues total height to approximately twenty-five feet.
Legend has it that he left Norway after his involvement in a blood feud. He heard tales of an island to the west that had been visited by his a couple of his countrymen. He set sail and once the island was in sight, he threw his high seat pillars (the poles traditionally placed on each side of the head of a household's seat) into the sea and swore to settle wherever the gods decided to bring them ashore. It was three years before the pillars were recovered in a small bay that is now part of Reykjavik. Ingolfur Settled here and began the history of this land.
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