Gunnar's Stone — Gunnarssteinn

At this stone by the Rangá river, Gunnar Hámundarson turned back from exile for one last look at home — a decision Njáls Saga treats as the hinge of his entire story.

Gunnarssteinn is a stone on the bank of the Rangá river in south Iceland, roughly three kilometres from the historic farm at Keldur, marking one of the defining turns in Njáls Saga — the longest and most celebrated of the Icelandic family sagas. Gunnar Hámundarson, the saga's tragic hero, had been sentenced to three years of exile from Iceland after a killing carried out under provocation. He accepted the sentence and set out with his belongings toward the coast to take ship. Riding past his home at Hlíðarendi on the way, his horse stumbled at this spot on the riverbank, and Gunnar was thrown, or nearly thrown, in such a way that his gaze fell directly on the slope of Hlíðarendi behind him — the fields, by the saga's account, unusually beautiful in that light. Gunnar is said to have spoken the most quoted line in the saga at that moment: that the hillside was so lovely he had never seen it look so fair, and that he would ride back rather than go anywhere else. His companions warned him that returning would cost him his life — exile broken was a capital matter under the law, and his enemies would not let the breach go unanswered. Gunnar returned anyway. He was right about the consequence. His enemies besieged Hlíðarendi some time later; Gunnar fought them off virtually alone for a long stretch of the battle, famously using his bow until the bowstring broke and his wife refused to give him two locks of her hair to restring it. He was killed in the fighting. The stone where he turned his horse remains a fixed point on the Njáls Saga trail, walked by visitors tracing the saga's route between Keldur and the site of his final stand.

Folklore Disclaimer: These accounts are drawn from local tradition, oral history, and community memory. They are not presented as factual claims.

Location accuracy: Approximate. Coordinates indicate the general area.