Buried by white volcanic ash in 1104 during one of Hekla’s eruptions, this ancient farm once belonged to Gaukur Trandilsson, a 10th-century Viking who lived a tempestuous life. Excavated in 1939 (Iceland’s first proper archaeological dig), it's an important site, used to help date Viking houses elsewhere. The ruins include the foundations of a farm, house, barn, smithy and church. Find it at the end of a rough 5km dirt road (Rte 327), off Rte 32 about 26km northeast of Árnes
The site has toilets and water. Brief mentions in some 12th-century graffiti in Orkney, in Njál’s Saga and in a scurrilous medieval rhyme hint that Trandilsson had a fling with the housewife at the nearby farm, Steinastöðum, and was killed over the affair in an axe duel. Contemplate this as you explore the site, where you'll find stone-lined fire pits and door lintels made from octagonal basalt columns and an impressively multihued lava landscape.
