by Claudia Pétursson
Note: Read on to learn about this tapestry that has been a labor of love bringing history to life through art. The tapestry is now complete, but its adventure continues. If you appreciate Icelandic history, its sagas and art, you (or your Icelandic club) can be a part of the next chapter. Please read to the end of this article to find out how.
Like most towns in Iceland, Hvolsvöllur, located on the south coast is small. And like most Icelanders, the inhabitants of Hvolsvöllur are courageous and take on mighty tasks. These qualities are woven into the hearts of the people and took shape in a new project created by the town of Hvolsvöllur in 2013.
Right below your feet in any part of Iceland, history lives. In the area surrounding Hvolsvöllur, Iceland’s most beloved Saga, Njál’s Saga, took place. So, if you live in Saga country, why not bring a saga to life replete with the Viking heroes that walked the land where you now live? In 2013, the town of Hvolsvöllur decided to sew a 90-meter-long tapestry depicting Njál’s Saga. Ninety meters is the length of an American football field! And they sewed it all by hand and invited everyone to participate (even my husband…)
I like to call Iceland “The Land of Overachievers.” So, the townsfolk of Hvolsvöllur gave themselves ten years to complete the project and asked Vilborg Arna Gissurardóttir, the first Icelandic woman to walk unaccompanied and unsupported to the South Pole and also to summit Everest, to take the first stitch. The tapestry was completed on September 15th, 2020, two and a half years ahead of schedule even with a global pandemic wreaking havoc.
And now it’s our turn to overachieve. As descendants of intrepid Icelanders and friends of this enduring culture, we can help the town of Hvolsvöllur to build a museum for the Njál’s Saga Tapestry so that we can all enjoy this masterpiece for years to come.
The Icelandic government supports this project, and Culture Minister, Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, welcomes the opportunity for North Americans to join in building bridges between us and the town of Hvolsvöllur.
Njál’s Saga has 159 chapters of Viking action, intrigue, joy, and tragedy—each one will be available to 159 Individual Sponsors and 159 Corporate/Organizational Sponsors for $1,000 USD each.
Icelandic Roots is helping to tie North America to this project by offering individual and organizational sponsorships to the 159 chapters of the saga.
Choose your preferred chapter based on a part of the saga, a specific chapter, a line of text, a character, or a landscape feature. We can help you find a match for any reason or occasion.
For your $1,000 USD donation, you will receive a plaque describing the chapter you have sponsored, with the corresponding image from the tapestry. Once the museum is completed, your name will be celebrated on our “Wall of Friends.”
Our goal is to raise $300,000.
Won’t you join us?
The Facts:
This may be the longest, hand-stitched tapestry in the world.
The entire tapestry was completed in seven years, with 12,518 discrete sewing entries.
The artists used natural Icelandic sheep’s wool which was hand-dyed using local plants.
Visitors from every continent on earth, except Antarctica, came to sew a part of the tapestry.
The tapestry is sewn in the Bayeux style, like the 1000-year-old tapestry in Bayeux, France, which still enthralls 400,000 visitors annually.
This will be an incredible boost to tourism for the small communities in South Iceland.
To learn more about the project see the Njálurefill website.
From Icelandic Roots:
Here’s how to become a sponsor:
Link here to the Icelandic Roots Donation page
Type "$1,000" in the Donation Amount box.
On the Donation Purpose menu, choose “Njals Saga Tapestry.”
In the Purpose box, write "Sponsor a chapter" and state the chapter you want to sponsor.
If you need help choosing a chapter, please ask to be contacted in the Purpose box.
Thank you for your time and consideration.