Drekkingarhylur

About Drekkingarhylur

Drekkingarhylur, the Drowning Pool, is a deep pool in the river Öxará in Þingvellir National Park, right beside the footbridge over the river in the historic assembly area. It looks like a quiet bend in a clear river, but it was an execution site: between 1618 and 1749, eighteen women were drowned here as a legal punishment handed down at the Alþingi assembly.

The women had been convicted of adultery, incest or infanticide. They were tied in a sack and held under the water. Men convicted of serious crimes at Þingvellir were beheaded, hanged or burned instead, at other spots nearby. The last woman drowned here was Guðríður Vigfúsdóttir from Snæfellssýsla in 1749. A memorial plaque at the pool lists the names of the women who died, and it is one of the most sobering stops in the park.

The pool lies on the main walking route through the old assembly site, between Almannagjá gorge, Lögberg (the Law Rock) and the path up to Öxarárfoss waterfall, so most visitors pass it anyway on a walk through the rift. The walk from the Hakið visitor centre down through Almannagjá is on a well-made path; the P2 car park below Öxarárfoss is closer.

There is no entry fee, but parking in the national park costs 1,000 ISK per day for a car with up to five seats (1,200 ISK for six to nine seats), paid at machines at Hakið, P2 or P5 (Valhöll) or online through Checkit. One payment covers all the park's car parks for the day. Þingvellir is open all year; paths can be icy in winter, and early morning or evening is quieter than the middle of the day in summer.