The first day on the road, we elected to skip the touristy spots of the blue lagoon, and golden circle and head north to Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park. From the national park service: No single place epitomizes the history of Iceland and the Icelandic nation better than Þingvellir by the river Öxará. At Þingvellir – literally “Assembly Plains” – the Alþing general assembly was established around 930 and continued to convene there until 1798. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Þingvellir and therefore the place is held in high esteem by all Icelanders. Today Þingvellir is a protected national shrine. According to the law, passed in 1928, the protected area shall always be the property of the Icelandic nation, under the preservation of the Alþing.
We donned our cold weather gear and paid for our parking, and then made the trek up to our first of many (SO MANY!) waterfalls that we would see in Iceland. We walked up a lava rock and boardwalk trail, about ¼ mile to the top of the Oxarafoss falls landing. From first sight, I thought this was a beautiful and large waterfall. Indeed it was beautiful, but by far not even close to the large waterfalls we saw. The grass and tundra around the falls were damp with mist from the falls and there was a moderate sized group there doing a bus tour.
We walked back down after a few pics, and then went to the settlement area.
The Rise of Christianity in Iceland
Paganism was widely accepted from the beginning of the settlement period, though some settlers were almost certainly Christian. Icelanders worshipped the old Gods with sacrifices. At the same time, the practice of Christianity was spreading in neighboring countries.
Prior to the year 1000, various attempts at spreading Christianity to Iceland were made with varying results, but the pagan practices still held fast.
Then in the summer of 1000, a great event happened at the Alþing at Þingvellir. Chaos threatened the young society as the Parliament was split into 2 groups: pagans and Christians. Each faction had its own Law Speaker and refused to acknowledge the laws of the other side. The two Law Speakers agreed that Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, the pagan Law Speaker, should decide which religion all Icelanders should follow. Þorgeir hid himself away for a night and a day, then walked to the Lögberg and declared publicly that Icelanders should take up Christianity, though pagans, he said, might continue to practise their religion in secret.
Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði’s speech marked a turning point in Iceland, and Christianity started making inroads into Icelandic society without resort to weapons or bloodshed.
Shortly after Iceland had adopted Christianity King Olaf of Norway sent a bell and timber to build a church at Þingvellir, which has been at the same site ever since. According to Grágás (“Grey Goose”), the legal code of the Commonwealth, the assembly could meet in the church during bad weather. The Alþing was inaugurated with a church service, a custom that continues to this day. Synods were also held in the church until 1799.
The present church at Þingvellir was consecrated in 1859, and in 1907 the spire was rebuilt and altered. There are three bells in the spire, one of them ancient, another donated by bishop Jón Vídalín when he was ordained in 1698, and a third that was made to “ring in” independence in 1944.
Among the treasures in the church are a pulpit dating from 1683 and an altarpiece painted by local farmer Ófeigur Jónsson in 1834. The church acquired another altarpiece by the Danish painter Anker Lund in 1896, and both altarpieces are used. The baptismal font was designed by a local farmer, Guðmann Ólafsson, in 1962.
After leaving Thingvellar, we started making our way toward Hella, where we would have our first farm stay.
We saw Kerid Crater, a beautiful volcanic crater with amazingly beautiful blue water in the bottom. There’s a 3Km walk around the rim of the crater and a longer walk down to the water, but we were already a bit tired and trying to adjust to the time change, so we elected to view from the top.
Along the way, we found a beautiful independent wool store, where I bought some Lopi (yarn made from Icelandic sheep) for a future knitting project. After looking at and feeling many of the traditional Lopi sweaters, Ray and I decided that we would probably never wear one (both from heat and itchiness) for the cost of the beautiful handmade sweaters (average price is around $250 USD)
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Ray had booked us an adorable cottage in the highlands at a farm resort, called Hótel Lækur.
. This is the thing in Iceland. Many farmers and large landowners have embraced the tourism culture and added cottages with a restaurant to their working farms. Our cottage was well equipped with a sofa, bed, full bath, desk, coffee maker and seating area, all in very Scandinavian design. It was about 450 sq feet. The farm was a working sheep farm and the restaurant used to be the lambing barn, but you’d never know. We dined on lamb and fish, and ice cream for dessert.
When woke the next morning, the fog was rolling off the mountains; the Icelandic horses (an actual subspecies!) and Icelandic sheep were wandering the hillside and the GIANT geese were wading in the gentle creek running behind the house. Next time we come to Iceland we’ll book a couple of nights here and explore the area more.
