The route over Kjölur (literally, the "keel") crosses the central highlands of Iceland between the glaciers Langjökull and Hofsjökull.    It became a frequently travelled route soon after Iceland was settled in the ninth century, but during the 17th and 18th centuries travelling through the highlands decreased considerably.  At the beginning of this century efforts began to mark the route with stone cairns, and today Kjölur is once more a common route for travellers in automobiles, on bikes or sleds, or, as in former times, on foot or horseback.  Everyone travelling over Kjölur should exercise caution and be prepared for unexpected situations, including every type of weather. 

Travellers are requested to follow the basic code of good travellers and show respect and consideration for both nature and each other.  The natural balance of the high Arctic is a delicate one and a lack of caution by travellers can result in irreparable natural damage or human injury.

The journey of the brothers from Reynisstaður
In 1780 two young brothers from the farm Reynistaður in Skagafjörður were sent to the south of Iceland to purchase sheep.  Three other men accompnied them on their return journey northwards over Kjölur later that autumn.  They set out with their flock from a farming district in southern Iceland near the end of October.  The weather was rainy in the south, with snowstorms in the more northernly areas of Iceland.

The following summer tents belonging to the two brothers were found, along with the remains of two of their companions and a large number of skeletons of sheep and horses.  The bodies of the brothers themselves and their third companion were never found and according to the legends which grew out of the incident they had been robbed and killed, with their third companion acting as accomplice to the crime.  The event did much to spread fear in people's minds and the route fell into almost total disuse for nearly a century afterwards.