Iceland encyclopedia Canyon

Asbyrgi canyon

Ásbyrgi is a horseshoe-shaped canyon in the Jökulsárgljúfur area of Vatnajökull National Park. Cliffs reaching about 100 metres surround woodland and the small pond Botnstjörn in North Iceland.

About Asbyrgi canyon

Floods and folklore

Scientific explanations connect the canyon to powerful glacial floods thousands of years ago. Its curved outline also inspired a different explanation in Icelandic folklore: a hoofprint left by Sleipnir, Óðinn's eight-legged horse. These accounts belong to different kinds of knowledge. The flood interpretation addresses landscape formation, while the Sleipnir story records the imaginative meaning people attached to the canyon's shape.

Sources: Visit North Iceland — Ásbyrgi Canyon ↗

Woodland and Botnstjörn

Birch woodland grows beneath the cliffs, and the pond and surrounding vegetation support varied birdlife. Botnstjörn occupies a hollow carved during the outburst floods that formed Ásbyrgi. A small waterfall can enter the pond during spring or heavy rain. The wooded northern part of Jökulsárgljúfur contrasts with gravel plains farther south and the wetlands in between.

Sources: Vatnajökull National Park — Botnstjörn ↗Vatnajökull National Park — Jökulsárgljúfur habitats ↗

Article reviewed 28 September 2026.

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