Þingeyrar Explained

Pushpin Map:Iceland
Coordinates:65.5381°N -20.6163°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Iceland
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Norðurland vestra
Unit Pref:Metric
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:WET
Utc Offset1:+0
Timezone1 Dst:Not observed
Utc Offset1 Dst:+0

Þingeyrar (Thingøre in some older texts) is a farm in Iceland's Northwestern Region. It lies adjacent to the sandy coastal plain of Þingeyrasandur (or Thingøresand), between the Skagi and Vatnsnes peninsulas and just northeast of lake Hóp. Þingeyrar was formerly the location of the famous convent Þingeyraklaustur (1133–1551). It is also the site of Iceland's first stone church, Þingeyrakirkja.

Icelandic scholar and politician Björn M. Ólsen (1850–1919) was born in Þingeyrar. Bjarni Halldórsson (–1773), an Icelandic legal figure and theologian, spent most of his life in Þingeyrar.

One of the earliest recorded giant squid (Architeuthis dux) specimens was found washed ashore on Þingeyrasandur in 1639.[1] [2]

Notes and References

  1. Volsøe, A., J. Knudsen & W. Rees (1962). The cephalopod papers of Japetus Steenstrup; a translation into English. Danish Science Press, Copenhagen. 330 pp.
  2. Sweeney, M.J. & C.F.E. Roper (2001). Records of Architeuthis Specimens from Published Reports. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. 132 pp.