About the Arctic Henge
The Arctic Henge stands on a hill on the northern edge of Raufarhöfn, one of the northernmost inhabited villages in Iceland. The structure sits close to the Arctic Circle, with unobstructed views across a flat coastal landscape toward the Arctic Ocean.
The concept was developed by Erlingur Thoroddsen, a hotel manager in Raufarhöfn, who wanted to use the exceptional light and horizon of the area as the basis for a monument rooted in Norse mythology. The design draws on the eddic poem Völuspá, specifically its list of 72 dwarves, each of which is assigned a five-day period in a symbolic year circle. Artist Haukur Halldórsson collaborated on the design and construction.
The structure is approximately 50 metres in diameter. Four stone gateways, each around 6 metres high, are oriented toward the cardinal directions. At the centre stands a 10-metre column, with plans to top it with a prism glass that will refract sunlight across the interior of the henge. Around the outer edge, 72 smaller stones will each bear the name of one of the dwarves from Völuspá. All the stone used in construction comes from a local quarry in Raufarhöfn, with the largest blocks weighing up to three tonnes.
A footbridge named Bifröst, added in 2019, connects the car park to the henge entrance. In Norse mythology Bifröst is the bridge between the human world and the realm of the gods.
The midnight sun and solar alignment
The Arctic Henge is designed to interact with the movement of the sun across the northern sky. Raufarhöfn experiences continuous daylight around midsummer, and the gateways are oriented so that sunlight passes through them at specific points in the year. On the summer solstice, the sun aligns with the south arch. The monument functions in part as a large-scale sundial, tracking the sun's path through the season.
Visiting around midsummer gives the clearest sense of how the structure was intended to work. The combination of the stone forms, the flat surrounding landscape, and the low-angle Arctic light at midnight makes it one of the more unusual photographic locations in the north of Iceland.
Getting to Raufarhöfn
Raufarhöfn is located on the Melrakkaslétta peninsula in northeast Iceland, roughly 600 kilometres from Reykjavík via the clockwise Ring Road route. The drive takes around seven to eight hours depending on stops. From Akureyri the drive is around three hours.
The village is small, with basic services including a guesthouse and a restaurant. The Arctic Henge is within walking distance of the village centre and the car park is free. The road to Raufarhöfn is paved and accessible in summer, though conditions in winter should be checked before travelling.
