Svefneyjar, a group of 52 islands, 2–3 nautical miles off the island of Flatey. There was a substantial manor farm there at one time. Eggert Ólafsson (1726–68) naturalist, poet and cultural leader, one of the most remarkable men in Iceland in the 18th century, was born in Svefneyjar. His best known work is the Ferðabók which he wrote with Bjarni Pálsson (1719–1779), later the first Surgeon General of Iceland, after their travels and research in Iceland from 1752–57. (Travels in Iceland by Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson 1752–1757, first printed by Barnard and Sultzer, Water Lane, Fleet Street, 1805. It contains observations on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, descriptions of the lakes, rivers, glaciers, hot–springs and volcanoes, various kinds of earth, stones, fossils and petrifactions, as well as descriptions of animals, insects, fishes, etc.) Eggert and his wife, then newly–wed, were drowned in Breiðafjörður along with all the crew, when they were crossing the fjord on their way to his farm Hofstaðir on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Eggert is said to have had with him on board the halberd of Gunnar from Hlíðarendi of Njáls saga.