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 are covered by a large wooden shelter at the end of a very rough dirt road that branches off Rte 32 about 20km beyond Árnes (best with 4WD, especially after rain).
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 desolate lava landscape.
