Icelandic Emigration Center

Staðbundin þjóðsaga

The Road West

Locals in Skagafjörður still tell stories of the day families gathered at the shoreline below Hofsós before leaving Iceland forever. Trunks were packed with a few belongings, family Bibles, and letters of introduction. Horses carried luggage to small boats waiting in the harbor, where emigrants began their long journey toward larger ships bound for Scotland and then onward to North America. For many, this was the last time they saw their homeland. Yet they carried Iceland with them — in language, poetry, place names, and traditions. In places like Manitoba, entire communities grew where Icelandic was spoken for generations after arrival. Vesturfarasetrið stands near the very shoreline where some of these departures began, preserving the memory of courage, uncertainty, and hope that shaped both Iceland and the Icelandic diaspora abroad.