Biskupsháls

Biskupsháls, (“Bishops’ ridge”) a tuff mountain ridge between Gríms­staðir and Víðidalur, the boundary between the counties Suður–Þingeyjar­sýsla and Norður–Múlasýsla. In earlier days it is said the bishops of Hólar in the north and Skálholt in the south were to meet there when visiting and travelling through their districts. According to folktales the bishops did not quite agree on the limits of their districts and therefore decided to erect a cairn on Biskupsháls to mark the agreed eastern border. Then each of them was to ride all the way round his bishopric and they would set the western boundary where they met again. They both set off, the bishop of Skálholt riding as fast as he could and the bishop of Hólar taking it easy and enjoying himself en route. They met in Hrútafjörður (V–Hún), the bishop of Skálholt obviously having travelled much farther and the western boundary was set there. In the light of this story, the two cairns on Biskupsháls, which are called Biskupavörður (“The bishops’ cairns”), might have been built about the year 1200 or even earlier.