Hvolsvöllur

Hvolsvöllur
Town
Location of the Municipality of Rangárþing eystra
Hvolsvöllur Location in Iceland
Coordinates: 63°45′N 20°14′W
Country	Iceland
Constituency	South Constituency
Region	Southern Region
Municipality	Rangárþing eystra
Population  (2015)
• Total	934
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
Website	www.hvolsvollur.is

Gas station in Hvolsvöllur

Farm building near Hvolsvöllur

Hvolsvöllur is a small town in the south of Iceland about 106 km to the east of Reykjavík.

Hvolsvöllur, situated in the municipality of Rangárþing eystra, is an excellent location from which to base for exploration of South Iceland. Its central location makes it ideal for day trips in the region and then back for a good night's sleep in one of the area's many types of accommodation.

Overview

The name of the town literally translates to "Hillfield". "Hvoll" (hvols in the genitive case) is an archaic form of the modern Icelandic word "hóll", meaning "hill", and "völlur" means "field". The name is derived from the name of the historic farm Stórólfshvoll ("Stórólfur's hill").

The hringvegur (road no.1) traverses the town which has 900 inhabitants. In the surrounding areas there is an additional population of about 800 people, who are also part of the municipality.

Not far from Hvolsvöllur are an airfield and a port (Landeyjahöfn) that offer transportation to Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands).

Þórsmörk, a beautiful valley below the glacier Mýrdalsjökull, is also not too far away.

The area is the scene of one of the most famous sagas of Iceland, Njál's saga. The town of Hvolsvöllur has a Saga Centre dedicated to this and other Icelandic sagas.

In 2010, the volcanic eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull caused evacuations in the surrounding area, with people being relocated to Hvolsvöllur, where Red Cross mass care centres had been set up.

See also

• List of cities in Iceland

External links

• Hvolsvöllur webcam (at the Esso station)
• The official Njal's Saga website—The Njála museum in Hvolsvöllur, Iceland