Strandir has an exceptionally rich heritage of storytelling about the landscape. Tales about trolls, elves, draugar, útburðar, outlaws, medieval saga heroes or the blessings of Guðmundur góði are found on nearly every farm in the region. Many of these stories are found in historical archives, but many more are still alive to this day.
This inheritance of stories makes Strandir one of the last traditional storytelling landscapes of Western Europa that has preserved the full richness of its traditions. To preserve this heritage for the future, and to make the richness of the farming culture of Strandir better known to everybody interested in traditional storytelling, the project is creating a map of story places.
This project is an international cooperation between Rannsóknasetur HÍ á Ströndum – Þjóðfræðistofa, Sauðfjársetur á Ströndum, and researchers from Germany. Starting from April 2023, the German Research Foundation is supporting us in this work, which for now will focus on the northernmost hreppir of Strandir, Árneshreppur and Kaldrananeshreppur. We hope you will enjoy the map we are making to preserve where the many traditional stories of Strandir are set, and to showcase the mythology of its landscape. For any comments and criticism, please write to us at strandasogur@lrz.uni-muenchen.de