Stöng Viking Age longhouse

A medieval farm preserved in place

The excavated remains at Stöng form part of a farm complex rather than one isolated Viking Age longhouse. The principal farmhouse contained living and working spaces defined by thick turf-and-stone walls, while the cowshed and smithy show that domestic life, livestock and specialised work occupied separate but connected parts of the farm. Seen together, they give the site its real importance. Stöng preserves the organisation of a working household rather than a collection of objects removed from their original setting.

That structure can still be understood on the ground. Information signs explain the rooms and buildings, helping visitors distinguish walls, floors and functional areas that might otherwise appear as low and difficult remains. The protective building limits the possibility of looking down on the complete plan from a high position, but it prevents the surviving structures from being exposed directly to Icelandic weather. Even when the building is locked, the arrangement remains visible enough to make the visit worthwhile.

The original landscape is equally important. Stöng was not constructed as an exhibit beside a modern road; the farm remains where its inhabitants lived, within the vegetation and open country of upper Þjórsárdalur. Looking beyond the shelter connects the archaeological plan with the land that supplied grazing, fuel, water and routes through the valley. The site becomes easier to understand when the ruins and their surroundings are treated as one historical landscape.

The eruption of 1104 and a more complicated abandonment

Hekla’s eruption in 1104 spread pumice and ash across southern Iceland and is traditionally associated with the destruction of farms in Þjórsárdalur, including Stöng. The volcanic layer became central to the dating and interpretation of the site. It also contributed to the preservation of walls and floor surfaces that would otherwise have been damaged by later occupation, erosion and weather. In that sense, the eruption was both a destructive event and the reason so much of the farm could later be examined.

The familiar version of the story presents Þjórsárdalur as an Icelandic Pompeii: a settled valley overwhelmed and permanently abandoned in one eruption. Stöng itself remains strongly connected with the 1104 event, but the wider history is less tidy. Later archaeological and environmental research has identified evidence of human activity elsewhere in the valley after the eruption. This does not establish that Stöng continued as an occupied farm, but it means that the history of Þjórsárdalur should not be reduced to a single moment when all settlement ended at once.

That uncertainty does not weaken the site. It makes Stöng a clearer example of how archaeology works. Volcanic layers, building remains, artefacts and later evidence are compared, and interpretations change when new material is found. The 1104 eruption remains fundamental to understanding the farm, while the precise sequence of destruction, departure and later use belongs to an ongoing historical discussion rather than a perfectly preserved dramatic scene.

The excavation that changed Icelandic archaeology

Stöng was excavated in 1939 as part of a major Nordic archaeological investigation of abandoned farms in Þjórsárdalur. The work at Stöng was led by the Danish archaeologist Aage Roussell, whose publication became central to the early interpretation of the site. Geologist Sigurður Þórarinsson contributed to understanding the volcanic layers, while Kristján Eldjárn, then a young archaeologist and later president of Iceland, was among the Icelandic scholars connected with the wider project.

The excavation was important not only because of what was found, but because of what happened afterwards. The remains were placed beneath a protective building and presented in their original location, making Stöng the first excavated archaeological site in Iceland to be roofed and made accessible to visitors. That decision established a relationship between research, preservation and public interpretation that remains visible at the site today. The shelter may constrain photography, but historically it belongs to the story of how Iceland chose to protect and explain its archaeological heritage.

Further excavations in 1992 and 1993 revealed a church and cemetery associated with the farm. These discoveries expanded Stöng from the image of one household building into a more complete medieval place containing domestic, economic and religious life. The church and graves are not readily visible to an ordinary visitor, so the most legible experience remains the protected farm complex. Their discovery nevertheless changes how that complex should be understood: Stöng belonged to a community with a longer and more varied history than the surviving farmhouse plan alone can show.

Gaukur á Stöng in saga and cultural memory

Stöng is traditionally associated with Gaukur Trandilsson, usually known as Gaukur á Stöng. He appears briefly in surviving medieval literature, including Njáls saga, while references in old manuscript sources show that a separate Gauks saga once existed. That saga has been lost, leaving only fragments of the man’s literary reputation and the knowledge that his story was once substantial enough to circulate independently.

Archaeology cannot identify the excavated buildings as Gaukur’s farm with certainty. The association belongs to tradition and literary memory rather than to a named object or inscription recovered from the ruins. It should therefore not be used as proof of who lived in the surviving farmhouse. Yet removing Gaukur from Stöng would also give an incomplete account of the place. His name has remained so closely connected with the farm that it has carried Stöng beyond archaeology and into Iceland’s wider cultural memory.

That survival continued in modern Reykjavík, where the name Gaukur á Stöng became attached to a well-known music venue and bar. The modern use does not establish the medieval history, but it demonstrates how deeply the old name entered Icelandic culture. At the archaeological site, Gaukur provides a human connection to a world otherwise represented mainly by walls and plans: a remembered figure whose saga disappeared while the place associated with him survived beneath the ground.

Understanding Stöng in its landscape

The road towards Stöng is rough, but an ordinary car can normally reach the parking area in good summer conditions if driven carefully. The small creek crossing on the route to Gjáin lies beyond Stöng, so it is not necessary to cross it when visiting the archaeological site alone. Road and weather conditions can still change, and the approach should not be treated like a maintained paved destination road.

From the parking area, a formal path reaches the protected ruins in approximately ten minutes. There are no visitor facilities at Stöng itself. Around 30–45 minutes is usually enough to study the signs, understand the farm plan and look at the relationship between the buildings and the surrounding land. Visitors should remain on the established paths to protect the archaeological ground and vegetation.

Stöng combines naturally with Gjáin, which lies farther along the route, although the continuation becomes rougher and includes the creek crossing. The reconstructed Commonwealth Farm, Þjóðveldisbærinn, is another separate destination within Þjórsárdalur. It was built as an interpretation of a Commonwealth-period farm and should not be confused with the authentic excavated remains at Stöng. Seeing both can be valuable, but they answer different questions: Stöng shows what archaeology preserved, while the reconstruction proposes how a complete farm may have looked and functioned.

A sign at Stöng prohibits recreational drone flying. The surrounding landscape still contributes strongly to ground-level photography, particularly where vegetation, the protective structure and distant Hekla can be placed in the same visual context.

• • Stöng was excavated in 1939 during a major Nordic archaeological investigation of abandoned farms in Þjórsárdalur.
  • The visible site is a farm complex that includes the remains of a farmhouse, cowshed and smithy.
  • Stöng became the first excavated archaeological site in Iceland to be placed beneath a protective roof and opened for public interpretation.
  • Excavations in 1992–93 revealed a church and cemetery associated with the farm, although these remains are not readily visible during an ordinary visit.
  • Gaukur á Stöng is traditionally associated with the site, but archaeology cannot prove that the excavated farm was his home.
  • Stöng and Þjóðveldisbærinn are separate destinations: one is an authentic archaeological site and the other a modern reconstruction.