Think of Icelanders eking a living out of nearly bare soil in an inhospitable climate, and then think how much the world has profited by selling them useless things like fences. Think of how much land was eroded just to pay for this nonsense.
And then all those profits blown up in wars. Imagine what could have been.
She settled on the hill in 1940.There was war.
Akureyrarkirkja
She lights up the city even now.
Let’s hope she hangs around for a long time.
By loving her, we warm the cold.
Let her keep bringing us together.
Women were put to death for visiting elves here on Viðey in Reykjavik Old Harbour. Now there is a shrine to Maria made out of cut glass in their honour and in honour of birth and motherhood in general.
On the other side of the island is the John Lennon Peace Tower, which beams light up into the winter darkness.
Iceland. Giving Peace and Light a chance since 870.
Plus picnics.
The Old Milking Bucket of Skriðuklaustur
In Germany of this period, it would have been collected, melted down, and turned into a Tiger tank. Here it’s compost.
The Battle of Örlygsstaðir was fought in a sheepfold on August 21, 1238. A terrible business. It was fought here.
It was a rout. It’s hard to defend yourself behind a three-foot-high loose stone wall. Little is left.
There’s a bench, for when the grimness of battle and waste overcomes you.
But, look: sheep!
Battles come and go, but sheep remain.
Forget the cruise missiles. Take the long view. Go with the sheep.
Think again. This is a nature preserve in the Whale Fjord in West iceland.
It is also one of the runways of the fighter base that protected the Allied Fleet during the Battle of the Atlantic during the early 1940s. Here’s another view. Back then, this fjord would have been filled with ships, protected by fighter cover and a submarine net across the mouth of the fjord.
This is the naval base today.
Iceland has, wisely, left this history almost unacknowledged, and has given this land to the birds. We can honour that forever. We don’t have to stop honouring that wisdom any time soon.
A Farm in Iceland 