The Grabrok craters are close to the university town of Bifrost in Norðurárdalur.
They were formed thousands of years ago, and I last visited back in March 2024, with my colleagues returning there in October in very similar weather conditions fortunately.
The main crater is 170m high and is the largest of three craters formed 3400 years ago. There is an easy boardwalk route to the top and round the crater itself.
From the craters there is a lovely view of a conical mountain called Baula, and it's little twin, Litla Baula.
Grábrók belongs to the Ljósufjöll volcanic system. It reaches from the Berserker lava field in the northern Snaefellsnes peninsula, over the actual Ljósufjöll mountains, and all the way to the Grábrók craters. It extends over a distance of 90 km (56 miles) and is one of the longest volcanic systems in Iceland. The last eruption in this volcanic system was about 1.000 years ago.I like the origin of the Berserker field:
According to the Eyrbyggja Saga, a “berserker” was promised the hand of a local resident’s daughter if he cleared a path through the lava field. However, he instead was rewarded with his own murder. As the tale goes, a 10th-century farmer named Víga-Styrr employed two Swedish berserkers as farm workers. One of the men fell in love with the farmer’s daughter and asked to marry her. The farmer wanted to refuse, but he was afraid of how the berserker would handle the rejection.
The farmer consulted with the local chieftain. The lord suggested he allow the marriage if the berserker could first complete an impossible task. The chieftain proposed that the berserkers would forge a road through the rugged lava field in one day. If they accomplished this task, the berserker would get his bride. Additionally, Styr wouldn’t have to travel such a long distance around the lava to get to where his brother lived. The two berserkers agreed. They set to work right away, putting all their “berserk” aggressive energy to the task.
They finished before sundown. The farmer was simultaneously pleased about the road and alarmed by his prospective son-in-law. Nevertheless, he invited the two berserkers to relax their tired muscles in a special sauna he had built for them. However, this was a trap and the farmer killed both the berserkers. He buried them somewhere in the area.
Not far from the lava field, archaeologists found a barrow with the bones of two burly men. Perhaps these were the berserkers that Víga-Styrr murdered?
The farmer consulted with the local chieftain. The lord suggested he allow the marriage if the berserker could first complete an impossible task. The chieftain proposed that the berserkers would forge a road through the rugged lava field in one day. If they accomplished this task, the berserker would get his bride. Additionally, Styr wouldn’t have to travel such a long distance around the lava to get to where his brother lived. The two berserkers agreed. They set to work right away, putting all their “berserk” aggressive energy to the task.
They finished before sundown. The farmer was simultaneously pleased about the road and alarmed by his prospective son-in-law. Nevertheless, he invited the two berserkers to relax their tired muscles in a special sauna he had built for them. However, this was a trap and the farmer killed both the berserkers. He buried them somewhere in the area.
Not far from the lava field, archaeologists found a barrow with the bones of two burly men. Perhaps these were the berserkers that Víga-Styrr murdered?
Source: https://www.icelandtravel.is/attractions/berserker-lava-field/
Images: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license on Flickr
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