Petra's story: Early years
Petra, christened Ljósbjörg Petra María, was born on Christmas Eve in 1922 in a turf house on the northern shore of Stöðvarfjörður. The ruins of the turf house, known as Bæjarstaðir, are still visible today. They illustrate how people lived in this fjord during the early part of the last century. Petra was the daughter of Sveinn Björgólfsson, a farmer and fisherman, and his wife Svanhvít Lára Sigríður Pétursdóttir. The family lived at Bæjarstaðir from 1913 to 1927, when they moved into Kirkjubólsþorp, now known as Stöðvarfjörður. There, they built a new home and named it Árbær.
Petra had few memories from her years at Bæjarstaðir. She had a vague recollection of sitting on a ledge in the rocky cliffs above the house. As was often the case, she was in the care of her older siblings. As they played among the rocks, a dense fog descended. She remembered voices calling to her from within the fog, telling her to remain still where she was. For a long time, Petra sat on the rocky outcrop, crying in fear, unable to see anything through the mist. Her siblings, too, waited among the rocks, paralyzed by fear. The fog lifted, and the children made their way home safely. Though shaken by the experience, it is fitting that Petra’s earliest memories should be connected to the mountains of the fjord.
Petra’s first clear memories were of her family’s move. She was six years old and the change of home troubled her deeply. She rebelled against these changes and would often climb onto the barn at Árbær to express her frustration. It was there, on the rooftop, that she first became aware of herself. Looking out to sea, she would sometimes curse, sometimes sing, depending on her mood or how long she had stayed up there. This behavior was a source of worry for Petra’s parents, but she made her dissatisfaction known, along with her hope that the family would return to the old turf house.
During the first year at Árbær, Petra was often ill, sometimes gravely. In the autumn of 1928, she became so ill with whooping cough that her parents feared for her life. “Sometimes people thought I was dead. I remember one time when my father threw me onto the bed and said this was no use anymore. But at that very moment, I drew breath. I remember it as if it happened yesterday. I was six years old.”
That same Christmas, Petra fell ill with measles, which took a heavy toll on her.
Petra had a fiery temper from an early age and made her displeasure known. As a result, the boys in the village often found themselves on the receiving end of her scuffles. Sometimes she was defending herself, but more often she was protecting those who were smaller or weaker. This resilience served her well later in life when she carried heavy backpacks full of rocks from the mountains.
Petra’s fascination with beautiful stones stayed with her throughout her life. At first, stones she could use as chalk for drawing were of particular interest. Later, she used the stones she found to decorate small playhouses that she and her friends built from rocks and other available materials. These huts were their little homes, usually built near their parents’ houses. Petra often chose the shoreline while others built theirs near rocky cliffs or along the small streams that ran through the village. The girls decorated their huts in many ways, but Petra favored colorful stones. She also used stones as a base for “mud cakes,” which she decorated with seeds and flowers. She even served turnip pieces, currants, and rhubarb in a geode that she found when she was only seven or eight years old.