The river and string of lakes that make up Lagarfljót form one of Iceland’s greatest watercourses, with a catchment area stretching from Vatnajökull glacier down to Héraðsflói bay. The upper end fills a deep trough that was gouged by glaciers and shows no obvious flow. The resulting lake, largest of those in Lagarfljót, extends almost down to the bridge at Egilsstaðir, with a surface area of 53 km2 and an average depth of 51 m. Since the average surface height is only 20 metres above sea level, the bulk of the lake lies well below sea level, especially where it is deepest, at 112 m. These depths are home to a serpentine monster, the Lagarfljót Wyrm.
lagarfljotsormur 