Helgi the Lean of Iceland

“When I am on land, I pray to Christ; but when I am at sea, I pray to Thor.”

~ Helgi the Lean

A statue of Helgi the Lean and Thorunn Hyrna, the first settlers of the area, about the year 890, stands on the Hamarkot Rocks on the street Brekkugata near the police station. The story tells that the parents of Helgi handed him over for fostering into the Hebrides, and when they came there two winters afterwards, he was so starved that they did not know him; they brought him away with them and called him Helgi the Lean. He was brought up in Ireland, and when he was grown up he married Thorun the Horned. They moved to Iceland with their children and settled in Eyjafjördur. He built his farm at a site which he named Kristnes (Christ-ness) and dwelt there during the remainder of his life. Helgi believed in Christ and therefore gave this name to his dwelling.

Visit Akureyri in Iceland:  http://www.visitakureyri.is/en/things-to-do/attractions/helgi-the-lean-and-thorunn-hyrna