Heimaey: Difference between revisions

{{refimprove|date=January 2014}}

| highest_mount = [[Helgafell (volcano)|Helgafell]]

| population = 4500

[[File:Puerto de Vestmannaeyjar, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 017-019 PAN.JPG|thumb|Heimaey harbour in 2014.]]

'''Heimaey''' ({{IPA-is|ˈheiːmaˌei|Icelandic pronunciation:}}), literally ''Home Island'', is an [[Iceland]]ic island. At {{convert|13.4|km2|mi2}}, it is the largest island in the [[Vestmannaeyjar]] archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. Heimaey is {{convert|4|nmi|km mi}} off the south coast of [[Iceland]]. It is the only populated island of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, with a population of 4,500. The [[Vestmannaeyjar Airport]] and the [[Westman Islands Golf Club]] taken together cover a good portion of the island.

[[File:Roca del elefante, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 036.JPG|thumb|Elephant Rock, a natural rock formation]]

=== Oldest tales ===

The ''[[Landnáma]]'' tells that after [[Ingólfur Arnarson]], the first settler in [[Iceland]], spent a winter at [[Ingólfshöfði]], he released his ''[[Öndvegissúlur]]'' (chief's pillars) into the water and followed them west. (These were pillars associated with the chief's chair. They were put into the sea and let float to shore. Where they came ashore, the Viking who followed it would build his farm.) At Hjörleifshöfði, Ingólfur found that his brother/close friend [[Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson]] was dead and his slaves were missing. Out at sea he could see boats going toward a small group of islands, and he set off after them.

Abducted from the north of [[Ireland]], the slaves were called westmen (Vestmenn), as before discovering Iceland, Ireland was the most western part of the world known to [[northern Europe]]ans then (c. 840). The slaves went ashore at Heimaey and took shelter in the hills. Ingólfur hunted them and killed them in revenge for their murdering his foster brother. In the process, he named various places and landmarks. For example, he named "Dufþekja", an area on Heimaklettur, Heimaey's highest hill ({{convert|283|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=x|; }}), after the slave Dufþakur (the Icelandic version of the [[Gael]]ic 'Dubhthach,' Anglicized as 'Duffy') who was said to have thrown himself off Heimaklettur at that point, preferring to take his own life than to let Ingólfur take it.

In tradition, Herjólfur Bárðarson was said to be the first person to settle in Heimaey. According to the ''Landnáma'', he built his farm in Herjólfsdalur (literally: Herjólf's valley) about 900. The [[archaeological]] excavation in 1971 of ancient ruins in Herjólfsdalur revealed that there had been settlement nearly 100 years earlier.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.visitwestmanislands.com | title=About Westman Islands | work=Visit Westman Islands | accessdate=December 21, 2012 | author=Jonsson, Sigurgeir}}</ref>

=== Turkish Raid ===

In 1627, three Arab pirate ships from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-controlled [[Barbary Coast]] [[Turkish Abductions|raided]] several towns on the south coast of Iceland and outlying islands.<ref name="Tinniswood">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBSVMivndEQC&pg=PT116&lpg=PT116&dq=1627+muslim+raid+iceland&source=bl&ots=KAGDvTIbhm&sig=td0SubjTY8VRkrJZAGDXscn6ePQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nq8qUJKHKMH00gHN2oHoCQ&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=1627%20muslim%20raid%20iceland&f=false | title=Pirates of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean | publisher=Penguin | author=Tinniswood, Adrian | year=2010 | isbn=9781101445310 | accessdate=2012-12-21}}</ref> They attacked [[Grindavík]] and Heimaey. In Grindavík, townspeople could flee into the lava field of Reykjanes and hide indefinitely. Heimaey was so isolated that it was vulnerable and people suffered. Many heroic stories were told of the people who survived the invasion, most notably [[Guðríður Símonardóttir]]. Better known as Tyrkja-Gudda (Turkish-Gudda), she was taken by the pirates from her home at Stakkagerði on Heimaey to the slave market in [[Algeria]]. From there she bought her way back to Iceland through [[Tunisia]], [[Italy]] and [[Denmark]]—Iceland was then under Danish rule. Upon returning to Iceland, she married the poet [[Hallgrímur Pétursson]]. The [[Hallgrímskirkja]] [[Lutheran]] church in [[Reykjavík]] is named in his honour.

=== Eldfell ===

At 01:00 on 23 January 1973, a volcanic eruption of the mountain [[Eldfell]] began on Heimaey. The ground on Heimaey started to quake and fissures formed. The fissures grew to {{convert|1600|m|ft}} in length, and [[lava]] began to erupt. Lava sprayed into the air from the [[fissures]]. Volcanic ash was blown to sea. Later, the situation deteriorated. When the fissures closed, the eruption converted to a concentrated lava flow that headed toward the harbour. The winds changed, and half a million cubic metres of ash blew on the town. During the night, the 5,000 inhabitants of the island were evacuated, mostly by fishing boats, as almost the entire fishing fleet was in dock.

The encroaching lava flow threatened to destroy the harbour. The eruption lasted until 3 July. Townspeople constantly sprayed the lava with cold seawater, causing some to solidify and much to be diverted, thus saving the harbour.<ref>{{cite web|last1=William|first1=Richard|title=Man Against Volcano: The Eruption of Heimay, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland (2nd Edition)|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/heimaey/heimaey.pdf|website=pubs.usgs.gov|accessdate=14 May 2016}}</ref> The people were elated that their livelihoods remained intact, even though much of their town was destroyed. During the eruption, half of the town was crushed and the island expanded in length. The eruption increased the area of Heimaey from {{convert|11.2|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} to {{convert|13.44|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}. Only one man died in the eruption.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grapevine.is/mag/articles/2014/09/26/which-way-|title=Which Way The Wind Blows - The Reykjavik Grapevine|first=|last=grapevine.is|date=26 September 2014|publisher=}}</ref><ref name="McPhee">{{cite book | title=The Control of Nature | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | author=McPhee, John | year=1989 | location=New York | isbn=0374128901}}</ref> The eruption is described by [[John McPhee]] in his book [[The Control of Nature (book)|''The Control of Nature'']].<ref name="McPhee" />

* Heimaey is mentioned in the song [[Leviathan (album)|"Island"]] by American progressive-metal band [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]]. The line is "Lava goddess, Ice and fire, Settling down, Ocean Geysir, Gullfoss, Heimaey 73." This refers to the eruption of [[Eldfell]].

* The 1973 album ''[[Sumut]]'' by [[Greenland]]ic rock band [[Sumé (band)|Sumé]] features a song called『{{lang|kl|Heimaey erĸaivdlugo}}』(English: "Ode to Heimaey").

== References ==

{{reflist}}

Acantilados de Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 053.JPG|View of the island

Acantilados de Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 024.JPG|View of the island

* [http://www.eyjafrettir.is local newspaper]

* [http://www.eyjar.net local newspaper]

* [http://puffinwalk.com/more-photos/ Photos from westman Islands]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060831211339/http://www.heimaey.is/thumbnails.php?album=5 photos]

* [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0812_020812_TVpuffin.html "Icelandic Kids Save Befuddled Puffins," National Geographic Today]