Iceland is the land of "fire and ice" -- meaning volcanoes, glaciers, and the steam escaping from bubbling geothermal pools just below the surface.  These steam vents are a common sight all along the roads.
Reporter Colin Nickerson of the Boston Globe reported on the wee ones this way:
"Even today, there are only 273,000 people occupying a land roughly the size of Maine and Massachusetts. And Icelanders still take spirit folk seriously: Public opinion polls and academic studies show more than half of all inhabitants think it possible or probable -- 10 percent call it "certain" -- they share their island with otherly beings, ranging from grumpy glacier-dwelling trolls to occasionally gregarious hidden people.

"That lore is the occasional bane of construction engineers and real estate developers. Earlier this year (1999), Iceland's highway agency had to change the course of a new road leading out of Reykjavik after citizens protested that the original route would disturb an elf's lair under a big rock."

To read his whole article, go here:  http://www.seattlepi.com/national/elvs25.shtml

Volcanoes -- alive and well, thank you
Iceland is one of the most active volcanic areas in the world.  In fact, scientists say that about one-third of all the lava that has been spewed from volcanoes anywhere in the world, covers the ground in Iceland.

Of its 130+ volcanoes, about 20 are still active, with the last  major eruption occurring in 2004.

 
Snaefellsjokull, a couple hours northwest of Reyjkavik by car, is one of Iceland's most well-known volcanoes.  It was given worldwide prominence by Jules Verne in 1864 when he used the volcano as the starting point for his Journey to the Center of the Earth.  It also figures prominently in modern Icelandic literature, particularly Under the Glacier by Iceland's Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.  (I assure you, if you want to read a bizarre and extremely difficult book, you can do no better than tackle this one, which I did before our trip.)  This 4,500 foot mountain is also honored as a place of spiritual power and other-worldly happenings.  But the most active of the volcanoes is said to be Helka, just above the south coast of Iceland.  It erupts about every seven years!

Most of Iceland is lava rock. with just a thin layer of earth over the hard surfaces.

Waterfalls fall & Glaciers glide to the sea

Among our favorite "findings" in Iceland was a
modest little seashore restaurant we later
learned was one of the country's finest seafood
joints.  You'd never guess that from the locals
atmosphere, or the prices, or the serving size--
this is at least a gallon-size pan--, but when you
started eating, there was no argument!
Back to Iceland Index