Ingolf Arnarson is traditionally regarded as the first permanent Norse settler of Iceland. According to Landnámabók, the medieval Book of Settlements, he sailed west around 874 AD and founded a farm where Reykjavik stands today. The sagas trace his origins to the Dalsfjorden area in what is now Sunnfjord.
A monument at Rivedal marks the spot where Arnarson is said to have lived before his voyage. The statue stands by the shore of Dalsfjorden, looking west toward the open sea and the land he would colonise. Iceland has honoured him as a founding figure for over a thousand years, and a much larger statue of Arnarson stands on Arnarhóll hill in central Reykjavik. This small monument on the Norwegian side keeps the other half of that story alive.
A monument at Rivedal marks the spot where Arnarson is said to have lived before his voyage. The statue stands by the shore of Dalsfjorden, looking west toward the open sea and the land he would colonise. Iceland has honoured him as a founding figure for over a thousand years, and a much larger statue of Arnarson stands on Arnarhóll hill in central Reykjavik. This small monument on the Norwegian side keeps the other half of that story alive.
