Overview
About Borgarfjordur Eystri
The remains of ancient volcanoes
The mountains expose the eroded remains of central volcanoes in the Njarðvík and Borgarfjörður area. Ice Age glaciers cut into these older volcanic structures, revealing pale rhyolite alongside darker basalt. Dyrfjöll forms a dark mountain barrier to the west, while rhyolite is conspicuous in the mountains to the east. At Innra-Hvannagil, dark volcanic dykes cut through lighter rock, making the relationship between older rock and later intrusions particularly visible. The area's colour comes from its varied bedrock, rather than from a single recent eruption.
Kjarval's local sacred landscape
Bakkagerðiskirkja was consecrated in 1901. Its altarpiece, painted in 1914 by Jóhannes S. Kjarval, places Christ delivering the Sermon on the Mount on Álfaborg, with Dyrfjöll behind. Kjarval grew up in the district and incorporated recognisable local scenery into the biblical scene. Álfaborg itself is associated in local stories with an elf queen, giving the hill a separate place in the area's folklore.
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