By Becky Byerly-Adams
“You just never know what you will find driving down the small rural roads of Iceland.” writes our author, Becky Byerly-Adams reflecting upon her visit to Iceland in September 2024. Travelling for over two weeks with IR companions, Sunna and Doug, the trio embarks on a somewhat altered plan and head off the main roads. Little did they know the treasures that awaited them.
There are multiple reasons why Iceland is a wonderful place to visit. On my first trip in 2016, I went to see this beautiful country, the land of my ancestors. With my sister Robin, we drove around the Ring Road seeing the waterfalls, mountains, fjords, and all the spectacular scenery.
On my second trip to Iceland, my goal was to visit some of the farms where my ancestors lived and worked, easily coordinated by using the IR database. I was able to follow the directions off the main road and drive directly to their farms. It was incredibly moving to gaze at the mountains and rivers knowing that I was looking at the same thing my great-grandparents had seen. On the land my 4-times great-grandfather owned, I hiked the hills, knowing he and his family had walked this very same ground. I stood in a churchyard where ancestors had buried their children, imagining the grief they had felt. The highlight of my trip was when I was able to go inside the house where my grandmother was born.
This past summer, I traveled again to Iceland with two fellow team leaders for Icelandic Roots, Sunna Furstenau and Doug Hansen. We were the advance team for our 2025 IR Volunteer trip and member tour. Besides scouting locations for next year, we met with officials from the towns of Húsavík, Stykkishólmur, and Eyrarbakki to plan port ceremonies in honor of our ancestors who emigrated from Iceland.
In between our planning sessions, we decided to visit some of the churches that had no photographs in the IR database. This simple idea grew into our obsession and by the end of the trip, we had visited 50 churches in fifteen days! To accomplish this task, we had to contend with extreme winds, drenching rain, unseasonably cold weather, and for the last church, the setting sun. However, we had a fantastic time because getting off the Ring Road led us to several serendipitous discoveries. You just never know what you will find driving down the small rural roads of Iceland.
This adventure started simply enough on our first day in Iceland. We drove up to our guesthouse in Húnavatnshreppur driving past an uniquely shaped church, Auðkúlukirkja. After we unloaded our bags, we immediately went to look at it. The skies were clear and we didn’t want to risk it being a rainy day tomorrow. Looking at our map, we saw there was another church nearby and thought, why not go there too? And so began our great church hunt.
August 31 was a momentous day for us. We left Húsavík in the morning on our way to Dalvík. By the end of the day, we had visited 10 churches. The first church of the day, Grenjaðarstaður, was a real gem. We found not only a church and graveyard but discovered it was located on the grounds of one of the largest turf houses in Iceland.
There was a museum, but unfortunately it was closed for the season. We walked around the outside of the turf houses and the church, and saw a rune-stone dating back to the Middle Ages in the cemetery.
Right off the parking lot was a stone erected by the The Icelandic Astronomical Society on the summer solstice 2020 in honor of an astronomer from the middle ages, Oddur Helgason. He created the rules for the timing of the summer and winter solstices, how the altitude of the sun changes along with how the sunrise and sunset move locations throughout the year. His work, the Odda tala is considered one of the most significant contributions of Icelanders to science in the Middle Ages. All this at one church!
After we reached Dalvík, we went down the nearby valley, Svarfaðardalur, to explore our final three churches. The first place we stopped was at Vellir. At this farm not only was there the church and farm store but one of the springs blessed by Bishop Guðmundur Góði (the good) Arason (IR# I138506)* and Guðmundar steinn hins góða - the Rock of Guðmundur the Good. On the stone it says you can drink the holy water from here and walk in the memorial path of Guðmundur the Góði. So, we drank the water and then went over to the farm store to buy fresh produce and ate delicious ice cream.
The next day, we headed out for Höfsos via Siglufjörður. We could have driven the quickest route going through the tunnel on road 76 but decided it would be more interesting to take the road less traveled, turning onto 82 near Ólafsfjörður.
Our next stop was in the area beyond Skagafjörður valley. Here’s what Sunna had to say about this visit:
Guðrún frá Lundi
As we journeyed through Iceland, our trusty driver, Doug, brought us to many side treks that held fabulous stories and breathtaking sites. One day, as we were traveling north out of a deep Skagafjörður valley, we noticed a storyboard alongside the road. It was a tribute to Guðrún Baldvina Árnadóttir (I180109). She is an Icelandic writer born at the farm, Lundur. She wrote a series of folk novels and was known as Guðrún frá Lundi. I have her books on a shelf at home. We were not searching for her birth location, but it found us. To stand on the very ground where she grew up was one of those serendipitous encounters that enriches travel when you least expect it. Traveling with Doug and Becky is always a delight because they share my passion for enjoying the journey, discovering new places, and learning about our shared ancestral story.
Next we traveled to Siglufjörður where we decided to walk to the church and the cemetery, Siglufjarðarkirkjugarður. As we approached the cemetery, I spotted a sign stating we were near the troll Stígur in the wooden garden. While looking at the troll, the owner of the guesthouse in that same location came over to chat. We explained we were Western Icelanders and part of Icelandic Roots. She willingly showed us the grounds and introduced her husband, who turned out to be my 4th cousin!
We find unknown treasures when we travel. In this next section Doug tells about finding his lopapeysa, the traditional hand-knit Icelandic sweater. Here’s his story:
Unexpected Connections in Iceland
While leading the Icelandic Roots Volunteer trip in 2023, I searched without success all around Iceland for an affordable and well-fitting lopapeysa, especially one knitted in lighter weight léttlopi. Finally, while visiting the small village of Búðardalur in Dalasýsla, I found the perfect one.
Back on the bus, enroute our next adventure, I noticed that the tag had the name, Kristín, of its creator. We had to look her up in the Icelandic Roots database, of course, and it turns out she is my 3rd cousin! That makes the sweater even more meaningful for me, but that isn’t the end of this story!
Skip forward a year to September 2024 when Sunna, Becky and I have returned to Iceland for advanced preparations for the 2025 IR Volunteer trip. Our route again takes us to Búðardalur, so I stopped in to visit the same small shop. Likely surprising the local women there a bit, I asked if they knew Kristín. Excitedly, they pointed to the woman knitting in the corner and said I could meet her myself! Kristín and I shared photos and hugs, and I gained another priceless memory of my travels in Iceland.
Two days before we left Iceland, September 10th, we reached the 50th church. While it was fun to pursue the goal of visiting as many different churches as possible, it was the overall experience that made this trip so special. Many churches we visited were on farms and, a few times, we had the opportunity to talk with the farmer. We discovered unexpected turf houses. Some of the churches were open so we could go inside and see the painted pulpit, the stars on the ceiling, the baptismal font, and the finely crafted door handles. Every church was unique and beautiful.
So, to make your trip even more special - be adventurous. Get off the Ring Road, explore the countryside. You never know what you will find.
*Editors Note: Read more on Bishop Guðmundur Arason (b.1161 d.16 March 1237) in the 16th of March issue of Rætur Fréttir, your Roots News.