Sæunnarhaugur

Background

History & Background

In October 1987 a cow named Harpa escaped before slaughter at Flateyri and swam more than two kilometres across Önundarfjörður. After reaching shore near Kirkjuból in Valþjófsdal, she was bought by the local farmers, renamed Sæunn and allowed to live. She died in 1993 and was buried near the shore where she had landed; the place has since been known as Sæunnarhaugur.

Sæunnarhaugur is a small but memorable cultural site in Önundarfjörður in the Westfjords. It marks the burial place of Sæunn, a cow whose escape from slaughter became a widely reported Icelandic story. In October 1987 the cow, then called Harpa, broke free near the slaughterhouse at Flateyri and entered the cold waters of Önundarfjörður. She swam across the fjord and reached land near Kirkjuból in Valþjófsdal. Impressed by the feat, the farmers at Kirkjuból bought her rather than send her back for slaughter, and she was given the new name Sæunn. She lived there for another six years. When Sæunn died in 1993, she was buried in the coastal ridge near the place where she had come ashore. The site became known as Sæunnarhaugur. The story remains an unusually warm piece of Westfjords local history, combining the stark fjord landscape with a real event that captured attention both in Iceland and abroad.