Region: East
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About: (Description)
Hallormsstaður, a manor farm in its time. Church till 1895, parsonage till 1880. Domestic science school founded in 1930, still in use, now as an annex of Menntaskólinn á Egilstöðum (Egilsstaðir College), in
cooperation with which they graduate students on the Domestic Science line. The compulsory level school for the area is also here, and a music school.
Hallormsstaður is the main centre of the Forestry Service. Birthplace of Guðmundur Magnússon (1741-98), who lived most of his life abroad and published ancient literature, e.g. the firstst volume of the Sæmundar-Edda, 1787, in Latin translation, with notes and vocabulary. He also translated Egils saga into Latin, wrote an Icelandic-Latin dictionary, published a play by Terentius, 1780, and other works.
Hallormsstaðaskógur, (“Hallormsstaður woods”) at the turn of the century considered to be the biggest woods in Iceland. Almost all of the woods protected from grazing animals between 1905 and 1927. Placed
under nursery protection of the Forestry Service in 1907. The wood itself is now 740 km2, and between 1965 and 1980 areas of land on both sides of the woods were brought inside fences along with the wood, the total
fenced in area now being 1850 hectares (about 4,500 acres).
The fence along the river Lagarfljót is 15 km long. In 1903 a nursery area, called Mörkin, was established to grow different kinds of native and foreign trees, and has flourished ever since. It is now possible to see 70 species of
foreign trees there. In the Guttormslundur grove, named for Guttormur Pálsson, forester (1884-1964), is the tallest tree in Iceland, one of a number of Russian larches planted in 1938.
The Atlavík bay on Lagarfljót is the best-known holiday area in Hallormsstaðaskógur, and there are 40 km of roads in the woods, many of which make excellent walking routes.
Hallormsstaðr is a National Forest.
source Iceland Road Atlas
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