Hidden Place

Hæ,

Nearly a week has passed since I first arrived in Iceland, and I am enjoying myself immensely despite the large amount of work expected of us here. Archaeologically speaking, I wake up at 7 am and remain in the field until 5 pm. We eat dinner at 6 pm and then have a two hour lecture. Afterwards, I run in the hills. Then a shower and a swim. Each day a field journal entry must also be completed. Needless to say, it is a full day that ends around 1 am and I am usually shattered.

Weekends are our own, to an extent. We have excursions! Because we have only just completed mapping and removing the first layers of the site, leaving the archaeology bare, not much can be said about that. Instead, I thought I would write about out excursion this afternoon.

Around noon the field school piled into a bus to visit the Drangajökull glacier. The glacier is only 15 minutes away as the crow flies (a phrase much turned around here), but because the landscape is shattered into fjords, the actual distance travelled is quite high and it is nearly 90 minutes to the glacier.

Upon arrival, we made the two and a half hour journey up to the glacier. The journey was quite treacherous. The landscape is uneven with knolls and hills dotted with jagged rock and slippy moss. Coupled with glacial streams that are, well, glacial in temperature and unpredictable (read: sideways rain, hail, sunshine, high winds) it was a long trip. Some individuals were not prepared, and were quite eager to rip into me because I was wearing shorts. Needless to say, when it started raining and I changed into waterproofs, those wearing jeans had to choke on their words. A couple of people fell into glacial streams as well, but overall spirits were high.

I had not seen a glacier since the J and M trip to Alaska, and I had forgotten how mighty they were! Despite their size and scent and colour, they are quite young in the long run. Iceland may seem rugged, but she is still being actively shaped. Probably the reason geology is so popular here, it is an exciting place to be!

I was able to capture many gorgeous photographs, but you may not seem them for some time! The internet connection here is glacial and uploading data is nearly impossible. Unfortunate, but factual. I hope that our next excursion to Ísafjörður will provide me with a nice internet café where I may find a faster connection. Until then, words will have to do!

bless bless,

Nick

Postscript: the address for this blog is: http://syngurvitleysingur.blogspot.com

Please pass it on to anyone you think will be interested, takk.

The church at Vatnsfjörður. This church was built shortly after Iceland's rather practical conversion to Christianity (in a nutshell: we should all just go ahead and be the same religion so we all have to obey the same laws). Churches were important symbols of wealth and power, much the way a mansion or Dodge Viper is these days. Saavy former chieftans sometimes became priests and used their prestige to build churches which helped them garner even more resources. Often, priests were brought in. Baldur, the former pastor in this part of the West Fjords resides nearby and lets us use his loo.



This is what the archaeology at Vatnsfjörður looks like. This U-shaped structure is a former smithy.



Karen Milek PhD describes this portion of the homefield, which we would soon de-turf. The homefield is a viking age and indeed modern concept where land is flattened and prepared for fodder close to the home. Then it is fenced in.



The infamous Grettir Cairn. Grettir supposedly built it, and Vatnsfjörður is mentioned in his saga.



View of Vatnsfjörður from the cairn. The early modern farm mound, cemetery, church, viking age archaeology and House of Baldur are all visible.



Oscar Aldred, landscape archaeology looks on.



The treck down. Unfortunately, through a small marsh. I was moronic enough to wear nearly everything I own thinking it would be ice all day and I was so sweaty and uncormfortable.



Reykjanes. On weekends, the hotel is quite crowded due to family reunions. Families who formerly lived in the West Fjords, which used to be a major seat of power in Iceland, often come back here for their family holidays.



Clouds and Sea for Katherine Jean.



Glacial stream from Dragnajökull. The water is just about as cold as water can be without freezing. Woe to those who fell in.



Water on Icelandic Moss.







View from the glacier.



Dragnajökull himself. Demonstrating the light-cyan colour of water.