Reyðarfjarðarhreppur

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of Iceland

REYÐARFJARÐARHREPPUR

Incorporated into: 1998 Fjarðabyggð

Origin/meaning :
The woman in the foreground is based on an old folklore and tells the story of a völva, a kind of a magical psychic woman. When she died she told the people to bury her where there was good view over the fjord, and that as long as her grave was undamaged she would protect the town from all dangers. Then around 1620 pirates from Algeria came to Iceland and kidnapped and murdered people on the eastern-fjords and in Vestmannaeyjar but when they reached Reyðarfjörður she sent out thick fog and they could not go any further and had to turn back. And when Iceland was occupied by Britain in the World War II a German airplane came to the fjord and again she sent out a thick fog and the airplane hit cliffs and crashed ( this really happened, whether or not with her assistance). The green mountain is a mountain that is in good view from the town and is called hádegisfjall, or noon mountain, as the sun is over it at noon.

Literature : Image obtained from the Icelandic Association of Municipalities (Samband Íslenzkra Svetarfélaga)