Last Updated: February 14th, 2020
Berserkjahraun, or the Berserk Lava Field, is one of the most beautiful locations in all of Iceland. Located on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, we stumbled upon this place during our 10 day trip around Iceland in a last minute effort to find something to do between Kirkjufell and our drive into the Westfjords.
Our frantic Googling at the time brought this place to our attention, but the photos we had seen online were a mixed bag. We decided to give it a shot anyways, because you never know what you will get. It is a good bet in this country, because with Iceland, even a mediocre sight is still pretty beautiful.
History of Berserkjahraun
Before we get into our experiences here, we’re going to take a side trip with you.
The Sagas
Berserkjahraun, like so many locations in Iceland, is a real location read about in the Icelandic Eyrbyggia Saga.
In this story, a farmer in the 10th century had two people who worked for him. These were large and often aggressive men from Sweden, who would be referred to as “Berserkers.” One of the men fell in love with the farmer’s daughter. The farmer, despite his hesitations, would only allow this if the Berserker would first complete a (thought to be impossible) task.
The task? Creating a road through the rocky lava field so the farmer wouldn’t have to travel a long distance around it when he wanted to get to the other side.
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To the farmers’ surprise, the Berserkers went to work and completed the road in little time. As you might imagine, the farmer was super happy about the road – but also still remained concerned that his new son-in-law to be had such capabilities. Instead of making good on his promise of his daughter’s hand in marriage, he ended up inviting the two men to a special sauna he built for them to relax. This turned out to be a trap. The farmer killed the men and buried them.
Real Life
While the story from the Saga is really interesting to us (and our dark sensibilities), it is a story. Or is it? A cairn was actually found with two large men in it. It’s never been determined if these are the men from Eyrbyggia, but it’s interesting to think about.
Our Experience at Berserkjahraun
As we mentioned at the start, our visit to Berserkjahraun Lava Field was unexpected and seemingly random. It’s not really a location that pops up in all the must visit places in Iceland lists out there, though it should!
Upon arrival, we were a little confused as the only indicator of this location was a small road sign pointing in the direction on a black gravel road. We were also a little nervous.
We quickly did some research to discover this was, in fact, not an f-road. In case you’re unaware, f-roads are roads that go into the highlands of Iceland (and some other areas), and are generally difficult to traverse. The difficulty mandates that drivers use 4×4 vehicles for this. While our campervan was tough, it wasn’t 4 wheel drive.
Once we determined it was fine to drive, we took the plunge.
As we got into the heart of Berserkjahraun, it really captured our attention.
It is a beautiful location. At the time of our visit, very moody as well with low lying clouds and fog, and some light drizzle. The lava field is vibrant with green colors, and little splotches of reds and oranges. On one side of our vantage, we could see volcanoes in the distance looming behind fields of black sand. To our amusement, a couple of sheep were walking in the middle of this – pretty surreal to be honest!
The martian landscapes of Iceland are often considered to be out of this world. If that’s an experience you’re looking for in a trip to Iceland, we’d highly recommend this place as a stop off.
