What is Vestmannaeyjar?
[[File:Heimaey houses and hill.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Heimaklettur seen from Stakkagerðistún (a public park).]] '''Vestmannaeyjar''' (sometimes called the '''Westman Islands''') is a town and [[archipelago]] off the south coast of [[Iceland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/index.php?page=westman-islands |title=Westman Islands |publisher=Icelandic Tourist Board |access-date=13 April 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032537/http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/index.php?page=westman-islands |url-status=dead }}</ref> The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,135. No one lives on the other islands. The town was evacuated in 1973 because of the [[Eldfell]] eruption. The eruption destroyed one fifth of the town before the lava flow was stopped by putting 1.5 billion gallons (6.8 billion litres) of cold water on it.<ref name=kate>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29136747|title=How do you stop the flow of lava?|author=Taylor Kate Brown|work=BBC news|date=11 September 2014|access-date=14 September 2014}}</ref> == History and name == [[File:Oluf Eigilsson Murat Reis 1627-1628.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cover of Ólafur Egilsson's book.]] The islands are named after the [[Gaels|Gaelic]] slaves who had been captured by the [[Norsemen]]. The [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] word, ''Vestmenn'' (meaning Westmen), was applied to the slaves and was retained in [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]. After [[Ingólfr Arnarson]] first arrived in Iceland, his brother [[Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson]] was murdered by the Gaelic slaves. In response, he tracked the slaves down to the islands are murdered all of them, hence the name Vestmannaeyjar (the islands of the west men). On 16 July 1627, the islands were captured by a group of [[North Africa]]n [[pirates]] who stayed there until 19 July. They were under control of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]. The pirates captured 234 people from the islands and took them on a 27-day voyage to [[Algiers]], wh