It’s only up before sunrise.
Skriðuklaustur
But worth going out in the cold for!
Troll Moon
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Icelandic Engineers Having Fun
How do Icelandic engineers have fun?
They make street art. A Mohr’s Circle is a two-dimensional representation of stresses in materials. Compare the representation of stresses above with the more technical one below.
Nice. Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation of just why one might do this:
Internal forces are produced between the particles of a deformable object, assumed as a continuum, as a reaction to applied external forces, i.e., either surface forces or body forces. This reaction follows from Euler’s laws of motion for a continuum, which are equivalent to Newton’s laws of motion for a particle. A measure of the intensity of these internal forces is called stress. Because the object is assumed as a continuum, these internal forces are distributed continuously within the volume of the object.
So, here’s the Icelandic version again:
Lots of permutations through stress there, all delightfully witty.
And why is the Icelandic version so much more accessible and, well, fun? Ah, that’s because Icelandic engineers are well-versed in the barbs of thought and look for any chance for them to go away.
I think that’s it.
The Sphinx of Randarhóll
Move over, Egypt.
Iceland has a sphinx, too.
Alpine Gentians in North Iceland
Here’s one of the pretty little ones that will bright your summer day in Iceland.
Alpine Gentian (Gentiana nivalis), Dettifoss
The Elves of the Borg
The stone radiates energy that humans recognize in elvish shape.
And, unsurprisingly, these communities have continued for 1,000 years.
Icelandic Teens
In Ísafjörður, I chanced on this Icelandic teacher taking his students out for a bit of grass-raking time.
Young Icelanders are a clever bunch, there’s no arguing that.
The Beaten Path
Did you wonder where it was? It’s in þingvellir. 
If you don’t walk it, it will disappear. That would be like letting the ancient romanesque cathedrals of Europe fall into ruins and be carted away as bricks. That’s what you’re looking at, so get on out there!
Copse, Volcano and Troll, Head to Head
Birch copse, with path.
Shield volcano, with path.
Skogarkot
Both are heads. Literally. The word remains in English as a cob, known in cobblestones (each has a round head) or a cape, which is also a headland, and that’s the Icelandic word: hæð, or head, or height. Remember that for the culture that settled this magical place, these really were heads. And so they remain.
Troll, Just Hatched, at Dimmu Borgir
Watch Your Head!
The Arctic Tern, Sterna Paradisaea, more lovingly known by its piercing cry, Skría, makes any visit to North Iceland a treat in the summer.
They go right for your scalp, screaming. The trick is not to duck but to hold a stick above your head, the Icelander’s say, which is fine and beautiful advice …
… in a land without trees. I think this is why rams have horns. Just a guess.
The Fun of Fooling Yourself in Iceland
Sure, you can sneak up on a waterfall, but it can also sneak up on you.
Hey, it’s just as much fun as picking up cigarette butts in Reykjavik, eh.
Or fooling yourself into thinking you are sneaking up on a troll.
Or lying in wait for the sun, trying to look like a block of ice. Loads of fun, that.
And just try to sneak up on an Icelandic horse.
Wild!
All together now!
A Farm in Iceland 