Goðafoss, (“Falls of the gods”) among the finest in the country, not very high but cut into two horseshoe-shaped falls, Not far above the falls the river Skjálfandafljót divides in two, forming the island Hrútey.
According to the Sagas Þorgeir of Ljósavatn threw his statues of the gods into the falls when Iceland converted to Christianity in the year 1000, hence the name.
The lavafield by the falls, Bárðardalshraun, came from Trölladyngja north of Vatnajökull more than 7,000 years ago and reached as far as 100 km from the crater.