Þvottá, means “washing river”, because of the first baptism in Iceland is thought to have occurred here. Late in the 900s, King Olav I of Norway sent a priest named Þangbrandur to convert Icelanders to Christianity. Þangbrandur spent his first winter in Altafjordur, converting the farmer, Hallur, and the baptising him and everyone else on the farm. In 1000, The Althing (parliament)decided that the whole country would become Christian.
