is a mountain pass between Húnavatnssýlsa and Skagafjörður Counties in Iceland. Route 1 uses it. There is a lake in the pass named , and the county border is just east of it. A stream (called or ) runs into the lake and it is on the county border.
Geography Grísafell is north of the pass and Valadalshnúkur peak is to the south. The river originates from lake and Valadalur valley, then runs eastward. The river falls in Gýgjarfoss waterfall east of the pass. When the river reaches Sæmundarhlíð, its name changes to Sæmundará river. There are only a few farms in and the surrounding area used to be referred to as or "in the pass".
The following farms were, or are still in (in county)
(abandoned) (abandoned)
History According to local legend, one time when the census was being taken, a vagabond named Magnús sálarháski ("distress of the soul")—about whom there are many stories—laid down right across the stream and stayed there all through the day of the census so it was not possible to count him in either Húnavatn or counties.
There is a monument to the poet Stephan G. Stephansson, who grew up in the area where the monument is now, on Arnarstapi hill on the eastern side of the pass. There are very good views over the region from the top of the hill Arnastapi, and there is a panoramic point just a short way from the monument.
is also the location of one of the Icelandic Meteorological Office's weather stations.
Arnarstapi Arnarstapi is a small hill on the eastern edge of . The hill is north of , right next to the highway. Arnarstapi was mentioned in Þórðar saga hreðu, in which and the helmsman fought. In Arnarstapi, fought six men and killed them all except for who transported to the doctor to have his wounds treated after wounding nearly to death.
Just below Arnarstapi is Brekkhús, a sheep shed belonging to Brekka. The house staff occasionally lived there and the poet Hjálmar Jónsson from Bóla died there in 1875.
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