The Outlaw of Fjallsárlón — Fjalla-Eyvindur's Last Camp

Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Vatnajökull, South Iceland

Iceland's most famous outlaw, Fjalla-Eyvindur, survived eighteen years in the highlands with his wife Halla by knowledge that locals believe no living person taught him — and his ghost is said to appear at his last recorded camp before winter storms.

Fjalla-Eyvindur — Eyvindur of the Mountains — was sentenced to outlawry in 1765 after stealing sheep to feed a starving family. In Iceland, outlawry meant banishment to the uninhabited highlands — a sentence designed to be a death sentence. The interior was considered unsurvivable year-round. Eyvindur survived for eighteen years. With his wife Halla, who chose outlawry over separation, he lived in the highland interior through conditions that kill exposed adults within hours. He constructed shelters in lava tubes and behind waterfalls. He knew which geothermal areas remained warm enough to sleep near in winter. He knew the migration patterns of the arctic fox and the reindeer herds that could be taken without alerting shepherds. Icelandic tradition holds that Eyvindur learned these things from the Huldufólk — that in his early years as an outlaw, when he should have died but did not, he received instruction from beings who moved through the highland interior as if it were a garden. There is no other explanation offered for his survival that is treated seriously in the regional folklore record. He and Halla were eventually captured and their sentences were commuted, largely because the authorities could not explain how they had survived and felt that executing them at that point would be impolite. He died in 1783. His ghost is reported at Fjallsárlón — the glacier lagoon at the edge of Vatnajökull — which was near his last confirmed camp. The figure is described as standing at the water's edge, looking into the ice.