Þrístapar
A poignant site with a haunting tale

Auther: Tony Fogarassy, Vancouver, BC

Þrístapar is the most poignant cultural site in northern Iceland. This exceptionally well-designed tourist site, 15 minutes by car south of the community of Blönduós, chronicles two executions carried out in January 1830. The last executions to take place in Iceland’s 11 century history. Two young people, Agnes Magnúsdóttir and Friðrik Sigurðsson, were locked into indentured servitude that was commonplace at the time, and indeed for much of Iceland’s history. The psychological and physical harshness of their lives took its toll. Ultimately, they killed two of their farm masters, Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson. The killings took place in Illugastaðir on the nearby Vatnsnes peninsula.

Þrístapar is a site like no other. The account of Iceland in 1830, the executions, and capital punishment generally around the world evokes sentiments of who we are as a sentient species. Iceland’s population in 1830 was about 50,000. The vistarband rule required that those without land must be employed on a farm and it was rigorously enforced. Everyone had housing but there was no freedom of movement. Twenty-five percent of Iceland’s population were locked into serfdom from the late 1400s to the early 20th century. It was against this cultural backdrop that Agnes Magnúsdóttir and Friðrik Sigurðsson, essentially slaves to farm owners, would bridle against the harsh treatment from their masters, combined with the thought of decades of farm servitude ahead of them.

Hundreds of executions take place each year in China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Public executions are common Iran and North Korea. The USA is the only western country to allow executions. While we commonly believe executions are for the most heinous of crimes such as murder, child sexual abuse, or drug trafficking, executions also take place around the globe for those who are determined to be homosexual (e.g., Uganda and Brunei) or for religious apostacy (e.g., Qatar and Afghanistan).

The 2014 novel, Burial Rites, authored by Hannah Kent, chronicled the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson, and the resulting executions. The novel is dark and reveals the challenges of farmers through the four seasons of rural Iceland. It is written through the eyes of Agnes Magnúsdóttir. Unique to the story line was that at the time, in the early 19th century, Agnes Magnúsdóttir was billeted to a local farming family prior to her execution. There was nothing that could be called a jail in northern Iceland. And so a local family’s home would act as an informal prison and the family as its warden until the time came for punishment. Imagine yourself living with someone for months or a year who was convicted of murder yet sleeping and sharing meals in your home in rural Iceland. This makes Hannah Kent’s novel a masterpiece.

The wheels of justice in Iceland and ultimately Denmark rolled to their inevitable conclusion determining the execution of Agnes Magnúsdóttir and Friðrik Sigurðsson was to take place at Þrístapar. Ultimately beheaded, their heads were placed on tall pikes. The pikes make for a breath-gasping selfie. And, in case you were wondering, the heads are no longer on the pikes.

Þrístapar is easily accessible on the No. 1 Ring Road. The site is easily missed, so keep a keen eye out. Give yourself 30 to 60 minutes to absorb Þrístapar. The site is exceptional. You will depart Þrístapar with melancholy and a certain tightness in your stomach, but immensely proud of Iceland’s social evolution over the last two centuries, notwithstanding it took the Icelandic government almost a century after the executions to formally abolish the death penalty. Þrístapar is evocative. Do not miss it.