Port · The commonwealth: other chieftains · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Kolbeinsárós

The landing place at the mouth of the Kolka (the Kolbeinsá) on the east shore of Skagafjörður, below Hólar: the harbour of the Ásbirningar's country and of the see.

Who holds it

Name
No resident lord
Title
Seasonal market
Confidence
medium

Lord in 1200

No lord; in Kolbeinn Tumason's Skagafjörður.

Overlord

No lord; in Kolbeinn Tumason's Skagafjörður.

How things stand that morning

Seasonal trading harbour.

Charter

None: there were no chartered towns in Iceland or the Faroes in 1200

Fairs and markets

Summer only.

Trade and crafts

The Norway trade of Skagafjörður and Hólar.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Named as a harbour in the sagas; its use in 1200 is assumed, not pinned.

Primary sources for Iceland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Sturlunga saga, ed. Gudbrand Vigfusson (Oxford 1878), vol. 1: Islendinga saga, Sturlu saga, Gudmundar saga dyra and the genealogies (full text searched)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.