Monthly Archives: May 2019

Listen to the Mountain Sing

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Here is Gunnar’s corner of Iceland. Snæfell in the distance calls the water out of the air, then sheds it and fills the valley floor with its watery self. The lake is the mountain.

And it is here in the spring, when you stand on the shore, you can hear the mountain talk to you through the ice as it is lifted and set down by the waves lifted and set down by the breath of the mountain. It sounds like a flock of joyous birds. Really. You should go. It’s worth the trip to hear it through the birch trees, to keep walking as it grows louder and louder, and then, well, to be right inside it.

The Mountain Twice

Snæfell, the great mountain of East Iceland (not to be confused with Snæfell, the great mountain of West Iceland), is rarely seen. She cloaks herself in weather.

Gunnar’s House is just above lake level (and just past the lake), pretty much in the centre of the image.

She is always present, however, not just in the cloud she gathers to herself out of the living air but also in the Lagarfljót, the lake that fills the valley below her. There you can walk along the shore of the water she collects out of the sky. Snæfell is one of the great transformers — much like a great white raven, really.

Icelandic Knitting Patterns

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You can keep warm with a good woven sheep.

As for sheep, they knit landscapes like this, in Breiðafjörður, one stitch at a time.

Nice banding work!

Nice banding work!

Suðurdalur

A labour of love.

It requires some skill with clambering and counting stitches.

Valpjofstaður

But sheep, ah, sheep…

… they seek out tears in the knitting.

Sheep are tricksters. You can find them there.

Ásmundarstataðá

In this way, you can stay warm dressed in the cold land.

Grund, November

Learning to Tilt in Iceland

The land teaches that all falling is not vertical.

Hamrahlið, north of Grund

Good to know.

Grundarfjörður, west of Grund

When we were there, parents were being advised to walk their children under 12 to school, as the hurricane-force winds might blow them over. The older kids could tilt, it seems, like everyone else.

In Iceland, No Tree is Just a Tree

The altar at Hólar is an example of what a tree can be made into, in a form of technology imported to Iceland.

The rowan tree in the graveyard outside is an example of how pre-Christian symbols can use a tree for the same ends of contemplation and memory. The cross is a third example.

Iceland’s history walks between these poles, but always the green tree is honoured most deeply, and at the least expense. It’s good to have one’s symbols take root and look after themselves, because there’s work to do.