Goðdalir

{{short description|Town and church site in Skagafjörður, Iceland}}

{{infobox settlement

| name = Goðdalir

| native_name_lang = is

| settlement_type = Town

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-coordinates = {{coord|65|19|49.408|N|19|5|52.534|W}}

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Iceland

| subdivision_type1 = County

| subdivision_name1 = Skagafjörður (municipality)

| subdivision_type2 = Region

| subdivision_name2 = Vesturdalur

}}

Goðdalir is a town and church site in Vesturdalur valley in Skagafjörður, Iceland.{{Cite web |date=2020-05-26 |title=Goðdalakirkja - NAT ferðavísir |url=https://is.nat.is/goddalakirkja/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |language=is}} According to the Landnámabók, the name {{Lang|is|Goðdalir|italic=no}} encompassed a much wider area, even including all of {{Lang|is|Skagafjarðardalur|italic=no}}, Vesturdalur, Austurdalur, and Svartárdalur, however, this is not known with certainty.{{Cite book |last=Bjarnason |first=Kristmund |url=https://timarit.is/page/6801983?iabr=on#page/n129/mode/2up |title=Skagafirðingabók 29 |publisher=Sögufélags Skagafirðinga |year=2004 |editor-last=Magnússon |editor-first=Gísli |edition=XXIX |location=Rekyavík |pages=126–128 |language=is |trans-title=Skagafjörður Book 29 |chapter=Goðdæla: Hugleiðingar um Fornbyggð í Vesturdal |trans-chapter=Goðdæla: Thoughts on early settlements in Vesturdalur |editor-last2=Pálsson |editor-first2=Hjalti |editor-last3=Ísaksson |editor-first3=Sigurjðon Páll |editor-last4=Sveinson |editor-first4=Sölvi}} {{Lang|is|Goðdalir|italic=no}} is the lowest town in Vesturdalur west of the river and the area has flat, wide pastures. The mountain that overlooks the town is called {{Lang|is|Goðdalakista|italic=no}}.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-17 |title=Goðdalir – Iceland Road Guide |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417193324/https:/icelandroadguide.com/items/goddalir/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=web.archive.org}}

The first mention of a priest in {{Lang|is|Goðdalir|italic=no}} in the 11th century. There was a parsonage there until 1904 where many well-known priests served. One such priest was {{Lang|is|Skúli Magnússon|italic=no}}, grandfather and namesake of sheriff Skúli Magnússon, who was very ostentatious. Sources say that when he would travel, he would call out to anyone he met "Out of the way, ladies and gentlemen, here comes the priest of {{Lang|is|Goðdalir|italic=no}}!"{{Cite book |last=Jónsson |first=Ásgeir |url=https://timarit.is/page/6801700?iabr=on#page/n74/mode/2up |title=Skagafjirðingabók 28 |publisher=Sögufélags Skagafirðinga |year=2002 |editor-last=Magnússon |editor-first=Gísli |edition=XXVIII |location=Reykjavík |page=73 |language=is |trans-title=Skagafjörður Book 28 |chapter=Þá Skúli Var Yfirvald Skagafirðinga |trans-chapter=When Skúli Was the Magistrate of Skagafjörður |editor-last2=Pálsson |editor-first2=Hjalti |editor-last3=Ísaksson |editor-first3=Sigurjón Páll |editor-last4=Sveinsson |editor-first4=Sölvi}}

The parsonage operated in {{Lang|is|Goðdalir|italic=no}} until 1907. The current church there was built in 1904 using lumber from the previous church, which was blown away in a violent storm in 1885. The church was moved and retrofitted between 1994 and 1997, and is now a protected building.

In 1976, a gravestone was provided to the grave of the poet Símon Dalaskáld, who died in 1916, in {{Lang|is|Goðdalir|italic=no}}’s cemetery.{{Cite news |last=Snædal |first=Rósberg G. |date=1976-12-24 |title=Gangandi Fjölmiðill á Liðinni Öld |url=https://timarit.is/page/3298150?iabr=on#page/n19/mode/2up |access-date=2025-03-07 |work=Lesbók Morgunblaðsins |pages=20–21 |language=is}}