The actor Örn Árnason does not put all his eggs in one basket

Örn Árnason, actor and guide, is a great storyteller. One of his favorite stories from the Icelandic historical lore is the story of Berserkjabraut on Snæfellsnes. When Örn is guiding foreign visitors, he often goes there.

“I went to Menntaskólinn in Kópavogur and finished my training to become a guide in one year instead of two, and I also got a license to drive buses. It was just because I had some time from acting. I was always told that it wasn’t good to put all your eggs in the same basket. That saying proved to be very useful and has been helpful to me in many ways,” Árnason says about his side job as a guide.

Árnason has a license to drive small buses intended for 20 people. “It’s worse when you have big buses. There’s a driver and a guide, but I’m in these smaller groups,” he says.

Árnason is busy in the theatre, and now he has been playing a role in the popular family musical Frost.  However, he takes time to go as a guide with groups around Iceland during the summer. “It’s like a part of the summer vacation to go and work,” he says and laughs.

What does your wife say about that?

“She’s just fine. I’m a very well-married man. But I make sure I’m not fully booked so we can travel together as well.”

Chooses to go off the beaten track

Do you have favorite places to show tourists?

“Iceland has been marketed in a certain way. Everyone needs to get to the Blue Lagoon, everyone needs to get to Stuðlagil, and Gullfoss and Geysir. You can’t get away from that. But then there are these smaller groups I have, and I can often control where we go. Then you try to go off the beaten track and I show them something I think is important.”

What do you think is remarkable?

“There is, for example, what is considered the oldest road construction in Iceland, named Berserkjabraut. It passes through Berserkjahraun lava on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. It’s fun to go down to Mt Helgafell in the Helgafellssveit area, right next to Stykkishólmur. Then to walk up Helgafell and tell people to walk in silence so they can have their wish fulfilled. This is not necessarily included in the general road description.”

Great treasures just off the highway

Árnason is in the process of preparing a TV show that he hopes will be shown on RÚV later this summer. There he is in the role of the narrator in a travel show in Iceland called Just off the highway.

“The main point is that when we Icelanders drive around our country, we often pass places that can be great culturally, historically, and a natural treasure without paying attention. Often we drive along the highway, and then we see a sign: Barnaborgir or Gerðuberg. We might not have heard of these places and just pass them by. However,  many of these places have a great history, and there aren’t roadmaps for everything. For example, as I mentioned earlier, Berserkjabraut which is a case in point.”

Árnason tells us that the story of the Berserkjabraut, which has also been called Berserkjagata, is magnificent, but very few know about this treasure that is just off the highway.

“The short version of the story tells about the brothers-in-laws Víga-Styr, who was cruel, and Ver­mundur the Slim, who are both historical figures from Eyrbyggja Saga and Heiðarvíga Saga and took place on the western part of Snæfellsströnd coast in the 10th century. Ver­mundur made friends with King Ólafur of Norway and the king liked him so much that he offered him a present. Ver­mundur chose these two fighters, Halli and Leiknir, who were two crazy berserks. When he came home to Iceland, he couldn’t control them. He decided to give them to his brother. Styr had a daughter and Leiknir got a terrible crush on her and wanted to have her. Styr said he could get her if he made a road from the lava field to Bjarnarhöfn harbor, right across the lava field and they did it overnight.

This is one of the oldest roads constructed in Iceland. It is marked and it is on the Berserkja-braut, but you need to take your time to look for it. When you drive down to Bjarnarhöfn harbor, you don’t see a sign, but you can find it on the highway. When you drive there, you have to be careful to turn right, not left. Then you come to a sign. Then you have to walk ten to fifteen meters, and suddenly you are looking at the tracks. You can find Berserkja-dys (old burial site) and lava walls that were built, but it’s believed that they were buried there. This is a great story coming from the sagas since it’s mentioned in the Eyrbyggja Saga and Heiðarvíga Saga. Foreign guests like to hear these stories,” he says.

Besides exploring all the attractions in Iceland, Árnason finds it indispensable to visit museums. He says that there are a lot of different and fun museums in the countryside of Iceland.

Summer in Hrísey

This summer Árnason plans to spend some time in Hrísey, where he has a house with his sister, but he spent all summers there with his parents as a child. “Me and my sister own a house there, my grandparents’ house and later my parents’ house. My sister and I took it over, but it’s built in 1932, so it’s not long until it will have its 100th anniversary,” he says.

Árnason says he’s mostly on vacation in Hrísey, but there are always maintaining jobs around the house. On the other hand, you can’t just go to the store when you need nails or something else for the house. “That means you’re going a little slower. But fortunately, there’s a lot of good people in Hríseyri who are willing to help when you need a stepping ladder or something else,” he says, concluding that life on the island also is great for relaxing.