Editing Heimaey (section)

== History ==

=== First settlers ===
In tradition, Herjólfur Bárðarson was said to be the first person to settle in Heimaey. According to the ''Landnáma'', he built his farm in Herjólfsdalur (literally: Herjólf's valley) about 900. The [[archaeological]] excavation in 1971 of ancient ruins in Herjólfsdalur revealed that there had been settlement nearly 100 years earlier.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.visitwestmanislands.com | title=About Westman Islands | work=Visit Westman Islands | access-date=December 21, 2012 | author=Jonsson, Sigurgeir}}</ref>

=== Turkish raid ===
In 1627, three Arab pirate ships from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-controlled [[Barbary Coast]] [[Turkish Abductions|raided]] several towns on the south coast of Iceland and outlying islands.<ref name="Tinniswood">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBSVMivndEQC&q=1627+muslim+raid+iceland&pg=PT116 | title=Pirates of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean | publisher=Penguin | author=Tinniswood, Adrian | year=2010 | isbn=9781101445310 | access-date=2012-12-21}}</ref> They attacked [[Grindavík]] and Heimaey. In Grindavík, townspeople could flee into the lava field of Reykjanes and hide indefinitely.  Heimaey was so isolated that it was vulnerable and people suffered. Many heroic stories were told of the people who survived the invasion, most notably [[Guðríður Símonardóttir]]. Better known as Tyrkja-Gudda (Turkish-Gudda), she was taken by the pirates from her home at Stakkagerði on Heimaey to the slave market in [[Algeria]]. She was eventually ransomed back to Denmark by King [[Christian IV of Denmark]] and was re-educated by and later married the poet [[Hallgrímur Pétursson]]. The [[Hallgrímskirkja]] [[Lutheran]] church in [[Reykjavík]] is named in his honour.