Strandarkirkja

Strandarkirkja (Icelandic pronunciation:

The Church was originally built sometime in the 12th century. The story relates that there is one night when a group of sailors tried to navigate back to Iceland in a storm. The southern coast of Iceland is notorious for its hidden reefs and rough coast. The distressed sailors prayed to God for a safe return and vowed to build a church wherever they landed. When they ended their prayer an angel, seemingly made of light, appeared before their bow. The angel guided them through the rough surfs and led the crew into a bay for safe landing. The sailors, making good on the promise, built a wooden church at the site and named it Strandarkirkja. The bay nearby is named Angel's Bay (Engilsvík [ˈeiɲcɪlsˌviːk] in Icelandic) to commemorate the incident.^[2] Many miracles have been attributed to Strandarkirkja and there was a time when it was one of the richest churches in Iceland from the donations of Icelanders coming from all over the country in hopes of having their prayers and wishes realized.^[3]

The Estate of Strönd

In earlier times Strönd (Coast in Icelandic) was a rich farm, where both sea and land gave generously.^[4] The pastures were rich, consisting of good land facing south for grazing sheep and sheltered from the cold northern wind by the mountain Hlíðarfjall 5–6 km north of Selvogur. The good fishing grounds were also not far away so the farmers in Selvogur reaped from both the land and the sea. In addition to this there were mentions of farmers collecting timber from woods nearby and having the right to collect eggs and kill birds in the sea-cliffs at Krísuvíkurberg.

Selvogur

Strandarkirkja served as the parish church of the community of

Strandarkirkja still functions as a parish church, although only on occasion. There is no longer a regular service for the small populace of Selvogur. The church is open in summer, from mid-May to August, hosting biweekly services, and is also open on weekends in spring and autumn.^[10] In addition, masses are also held by the parish priest on Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. A harvest sermon (Uppskerumessa [ˈʏhpˌscɛːrʏˌmɛsːa]) is held at the end of August by ancient tradition to celebrate the end of the harvest season. There is also a fisherman's mass (Veiðimannamessa [ˈveiːðɪˌmanːaˌmɛsːa]) in October that is open to all, but primarily caters to the hunters with their hunting cabin at the nearby Hlíðarvatn, a lake owned by the church.^[11]

A statue of Norwegian granite carved by the Icelandic sculptor Gunnfríður Jónsdóttir (1889–1968) in 1950 called Landsýn [ˈlantˌsiːn], or 'Land in Sight', now stands by Strandarkirkja to commemorate the story of the church's founding. Gunnfríður Jónsdóttir herself is buried in the Strandarkirkja cemetery.^[12]

Gallery

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  Strandarkirkja - exterior view
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  Strandarkirkja - interior view
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  Strandarkirkja - exterior grounds with view of some graves
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  Strandarkirkja - side view from the north towards the ocean

References