Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
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Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Snorralaug is a small, stone-lined geothermal pool in the village of Reykholt in Borgarfjörður, West Iceland, linked to the medieval writer and chieftain Snorri Sturluson. It is about 104 km (around 1 hour 30 minutes) from Reykjavík. You can look at it and photograph it, but you cannot bathe in it. Allow 20–30 minutes.
Snorralaug is a round pool, about 4 metres across, lined with stones and fed by hot water from a spring at Reykholt. It sits in the middle of the village, close to Reykholt church and the Snorrastofa cultural centre, with green fields all around. There is a bench along the inside of the wall, and a low path leads to the pool.
The pool is named after Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), the poet, lawmaker and historian who wrote the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, the sagas of the Norwegian kings. He lived at Reykholt from around 1206. The pool is mentioned in Landnámabók, the Book of Settlements, and in the saga writing of Snorri's own age. Snorralaug is one of the oldest man-made structures in Iceland that is still standing, and one of the few places that links directly to a person from the Icelandic sagas.
An old stone-lined tunnel leads from near the pool towards the site of the farm buildings. It is thought to have been a private passage between Snorri’s home and his pool. You can see the tunnel entrance from outside, but the tunnel itself is not a place to walk through.
Snorri Sturluson was one of the most powerful men in 13th-century Iceland and the author of much of what we know about Norse myths and the Norwegian kings. He moved to Reykholt in about 1206 and made it one of the intellectual centres of the country, writing and collecting texts on the farm.
His life ended here. In September 1241 he was killed in Reykholt by men sent by his rival Gissur Þorvaldsson, during the violent power struggles of the Sturlung Age. Today Reykholt is a small village with a church, a school and a research centre built around his memory. There is also a statue of Snorri by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland.
Reykholt is a small village. Services around the church and Snorrastofa include exhibitions, a shop and a café or restaurant in season, though hours change with the season. There are also hotel and guesthouse options in and around Reykholt. The pool area is a short, flat walk from the car park.
Reykholt has a hotel and guesthouses, and there is more choice around Húsafell and in Borgarnes. Staying in the area lets you see Hraunfossar, the caves and the hot springs without a long drive.
No. Bathing is not allowed. The pool is a protected historic site that you view from outside.
A 13th-century Icelandic chieftain, poet and historian who wrote the Prose Edda and Heimskringla. He lived at Reykholt and was killed there in 1241.
About 104 km, or around 1 hour 30 minutes by car.
Around 20–30 minutes for the pool and tunnel entrance. Add time if you visit the Snorrastofa exhibition.
You can see the pool from the outside without a ticket. The Snorrastofa exhibition has its own entry fee.
Deildartunguhver hot spring and the Krauma baths are a few minutes away on Route 50. Hraunfossar and Barnafossar are about 20 km further east on Route 518, with Húsafell and the Víðgelmir lava cave beyond.
Tours and trips that include Snorralaug, booked directly with a local travel agency in Iceland.
