Bolungarvík is a small town and the only built-up area in the municipality of Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður in the northwest of Iceland, located on the Westfjordspeninsula, approximately 14 kilometres from the town of Ísafjörður and 473 km. from the capital cityReykjavík. It was one of Iceland's oldest fishing outposts and is close to abundant fishing grounds. Tourist sites include a camping site next to an indoor swimming pool with a waterslide as well as a natural history museum where a polar bear specimen and the biggest bird collection in Iceland can be seen. Skálavík bay can be reached by gravel road over a mountain pass. That same road also leads to the top of the Bolafjall mountain with views of the village of Bolungarvík, the Ísafjarðardjúp fjord, the Jökulfirðir fjords, the Hornstrandirnature reserve and the street of Denmark. On the same spot there is a radar station. The surroundings of Bolungarvík are destinations for hiking, horse riding, sea angling and birdwatching. Bolungarvík's facilities include apartment rental, a bank, a post office, two bars, a supermarket, a convenience store, a kindergarten, a primary school, a music school, a community center, a handcraft store and a tourist information centre. Bolungarvik was the location for Nói Albínói, a movie by Dagur Kári about a disaffected teenager living in a remote Icelandic village who loses his family in an avalanche. It was also the setting for Rúnar Rúnarsson's 2015 film Sparrows.
History and folklore
According to Landnámabók Þuríður sundafyllir settled in Bolungarvík around 940 along with her brother Þjóðólfur. Folklore says they had a disagreement and put a spell on each other, as they were both skilled sorcerers. Þuríður laid on her brother that he would spend eternity as a monolith on which all birds would defecate. Þjóðólfur in turn hexed his sister that she would forever stand where the wind blows most. The pillar that was said to be Þuríður collapsed in half in 1936. The legend says that same night the cliff "Þjóðólfur" sank in the sea. That night their spell washed away into the sea.
