town, northern Iceland. It lies along Skjálfandi Bay, northeast of Akureyri, and is the oldest settlement in Iceland. According to legend, Húsavík (“Bay of the Houses”) was so named because a Swedish seafarer, Gardar, blown off course, built a house and wintered there in 864. In the 1880s one of Iceland's first cooperatives was organized there. Húsavík is a fishing port and serves as a market centre for a dairy-farming and sheep-raising area. Pop. (2006 est.) 2,296.