Mosfellsdalur blends rural life with cultural heritage

About 250 people live on roughly 80 farms and properties in Mosfellsdalur, a rural community on the outskirts of the city, according to mbl.is. Many residents work and use services in urban areas, while the valley itself supports farming, horticulture and a range of cultural activities.

From the junction with Vesturlandsvegur, it is less than five kilometres to Gljúfrasteinn, the former home of Nobel Prize-winning writer Halldór Kiljan Laxness. The house is now a museum and centre dedicated to the writer’s history and work. Laxness wrote extensively about rural life and its people, including the community around Mosfellsdalur.

Businesses and activities in the valley include horticultural centres, a treatment centre for people with addiction problems, a summer programme for disabled children, dairy farms, artistic work, a petting zoo, a saddlery workshop, horse rentals and fur farming at Helgadalur, which made the news this summer.

The valley is surrounded by four mountains. Helgafell, Æsustaðafjall and Grímarsfell lie to the south, while Mosfell is to the north. Most of the settlement lies at the foot of the mountains and their ridges.

Þingvallavegur runs across Mosfellsdalur, largely alongside the Köldukvísl river. The river flows from Mosfellsheiði and receives water from several streams, including Suðurá, which joins it farther down the valley. The road has long been due for improvements aimed at increasing traffic safety.

At Norður-Reykir, large quantities of hot water are available. Most of it enters Veitur’s system to heat homes in the capital region, while the heat is also essential to the horticulture and greenhouse farming that have long been established in the valley.

Mosfellsdalur was once troubled by strong winds. Several decades ago, residents began planting trees, which have grown well. Some of the aspens are now 15 to 20 metres tall, providing shelter and significantly improving living conditions in the valley.

Writer Bjarki Bjarnason, who lives at Hvirfill with his wife, ceramic artist Þóra Sigþórsdóttir, says Mosfellsdalur was settled early during Iceland’s settlement period. Þóra runs a studio and gallery there, while Bjarki has documented the history of the area and has lived there since childhood.

Bjarki moved to the valley with his parents, Aðalheiður Sigríður Guðmundsdóttir and Reverend Bjarni Sigurðsson, who became parish priest at Mosfell in 1954. When plans were later made to build a church at Mosfell, the priest played a central role.

The church, consecrated in 1965, was built partly with an inheritance from Stefán Þorláksson, a local official in Reykjadalur. When Stefán died in 1959, his will stated that he wanted his money used to build a new church at Mosfell.

The project led to extensive disputes, which became the subject of Halldór Laxness’s novel Innansveitarkrónika, published in 1970. Bjarki recalls that Laxness visited Mosfell to discuss the unusual history of the church with his father.