Bjarnarhofn is an old estate at the foot of the freestanding Mt Bjarnarhafnarfjall (575 m) on the Hraunfjordur Bay. During Catholic times the churches there were dedicated to St. Nicolas. The present church was consecrated in 1857. It is the property of the farmer and his family, its home chapel and has no other parishioners.

Bjorn austraeni Ketilsson built his farm there. His sister Aud djupudga and brother Helgi bjola also settled in the West at the same time. Bjorn stuck to the Pagan religion, whereas his sister and brother had been baptized. Three doctors of medicine between 1740 and 1840 occupied Bjarnarhofn.

It is quite interesting to make a detour to Bjarnarhofn to taste the cured shark, the shark liver oil, and stockfish and peek at the old church, the pride of the farmer.

Picture:  Farmer Hildibrandur holding pieces of the cured shark.