Seyðisfjörður

Settlement in the fjord goes back to the early period of Iceland's settlement, when, by tradition, a man named Bjólfur took the whole fjord; the mountain to the west of the town bears his name. Excavations in 1998–1999 on the fjord uncovered the ruins of a burned stave church, carbon-dated to the 11th century. A church stood at Dvergasteinn on the north shore from about 1200 until the 19th century.

The town itself began in 1848, built by Norwegian fishermen who put up some of the wooden buildings that still stand. Nearby at Vestdalseyri the American whaler Thomas Welcome Roys ran the world's first modern industrial whaling station from 1864 to 1866. The town grew around herring fishing and processing and received its town charter in 1895. In 1906 the first telegraph cable linking Iceland to Europe came ashore here, making the town a hub of international communications for decades, and in 1913 a dam on the river powered the country's first high-voltage AC power station and its first town electricity network.

In the Second World War British and American forces used the fjord as a base, and in February 1944 German aircraft sank the tanker El Grillo there. When the local fish-processing plant closed, the town turned increasingly to tourism and the arts. In December 2020, after about 570 mm of rain in five days, mudflows struck the town, the largest ever to hit an Icelandic settlement; 39 houses were damaged and twelve destroyed, protected historic buildings among them, and every resident was evacuated. Residents of the surviving houses were allowed home in October 2021 after protective works were built, and the Technical Museum of East Iceland was badly damaged.

Seyðisfjörður is known above all for its artistic life. The Swiss artist Dieter Roth kept a home and studio here and, with others, founded a visual art collective in 1996; the Skaftfell Center for Visual Art followed in 1998 and is now the main centre for visual art in East Iceland, holding exhibitions year-round, hosting artists in residence and keeping a library of artists' books. LungA School, an independent, artist-run art school organised as an Icelandic folk school, runs programmes in art and land, and from 2000 to 2024 the town hosted the LungA Art Festival. Herðubíó is the only cinema in the east of Iceland.

The town's setting has drawn film-makers: the skateboarding scene in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was shot here, as were parts of the television series Trapped. The colourful timber houses of Norwegian origin from around 1900 are what make the town unlike others in Iceland.

Living on the edge of what many consider habitable, between steep mountains and the sea, has shaped the people here. The town has a school brass band, and the sports club Huginn fields teams in football, handball and volleyball.

About 650 people lived in Seyðisfjörður in 2024. The town is part of the municipality of Múlaþing, whose largest town is Egilsstaðir. Fishing and fish processing were long the main work and the town remains a significant fishing port, with harbours, shipbuilding facilities and a slipway, but tourism is growing steadily. The town has a swimming pool, a library, a hospital, a post office, a state liquor store and a supermarket.

The fjord's natural harbour, and its nearness to mainland Europe, have made it an important gateway since around 1900. Every week the ferry Norröna brings cars and passengers from Denmark and the Faroe Islands.

The pass shapes daily life. The only road out climbs over Fjarðarheiði, about 600 metres high, and in winter storms can close it. A tunnel to Egilsstaðir was long promised, but in 2025 it was pushed back to after 2040 in favour of tunnels to Mjóifjörður and Neskaupstaður. Precipitation is high, at over 1,650 mm a year, and after the 2020 mudflows protective works were installed before residents could return.

Seyðisfjörður is still a significant fishing port, and fish is the base of the table here as across Iceland, where haddock, plaice, halibut, herring and shrimp are the fish most eaten. Harðfiskur, fish dried by cold air and wind, is traditionally eaten with butter. The town has a handful of restaurants and cafés, and the Skaftfell art centre has its own bistro.

East Iceland has its own game. Reindeer were introduced to Iceland in the late 18th century and live wild on the moorlands of the east, where the herd numbers a few thousand animals; their meat is considered a special delicacy and is usually very expensive. Lamb, whose quality is a point of national pride, is the everyday meat.

National staples complete the table: hangikjöt, smoked lamb; skyr, which has the consistency of strained yogurt but is classed as a fresh sour milk cheese; rúgbrauð, a dense, dark and moist rye bread; and, from the bakery, kleinur, small knotted buns of fried dough, and snúður, a cinnamon roll usually topped with glaze or melted chocolate.