Iceland: Its Scenes and SagasOff at last! Farewell comfort, ease, good food, snug beds! Welcome hard riding, rain and cold, scanty diet and the ground for a couch! So begins Sabine Baring-Gould's account of his journey on horseback around Iceland in 1862. Aged twenty-eight, the young writer and teacher was fascinated by the tradition of the Icelandic sagas, and this was the catalyst for his adventure and the book that emerged from it. His voyage took him from the then tiny settlement of Reykjavik through remote and hostile terrain, passing through the empty expanse of Iceland's countryside. He observed mountains and glaciers, volcanoes and geysers, wondering at the wild beauty of the landscape. He also recorded the rich flora and fauna that he saw--and, to his chagrin, that his companions shot. But Baring-Gould's account is more than a travelogue. extraordinary characters and events of these age-old stories. Evoking a world of trolls, witches and magic, he explores the mythology and language of Icelandic lore. He also turns a critical eye on his fellow travellers and the Icelanders he meets, passing judgment on food such as stuffed puffin, pungent fish and ptarmigan. By turns amusing and acerbic, Baring-Gould provides a detailed and colourful account of an Icelandic society that has long since disappeared. Illustrated with Baring-Gould's own drawings, Iceland: Its Scenes and Sagas is an entertaining and eccentric insight into a world of myth and legend as well as a classic of natural and human observation. |
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Page l
... lava having thus welled up and overflowed older strata . Beds of lava of this nature exist in the midst of the Storisandur , at Olfus , and throughout the Gullbríngu sysla . Immediately after an eruption has taken place , the volcanoes ...
... lava having thus welled up and overflowed older strata . Beds of lava of this nature exist in the midst of the Storisandur , at Olfus , and throughout the Gullbríngu sysla . Immediately after an eruption has taken place , the volcanoes ...
Page 102
... lava flood , which has gushed from Eiriks jökull , has climbed the heithi , and now lies in a long black ridge on the mud desert . We could trace the sweep of every billow , now intruding on a lake , then shrinking before a shoulder of ...
... lava flood , which has gushed from Eiriks jökull , has climbed the heithi , and now lies in a long black ridge on the mud desert . We could trace the sweep of every billow , now intruding on a lake , then shrinking before a shoulder of ...
Page 204
... lava . Now turn your eyes to the strip of land between us and the water . Below us is the farm , with its emerald patch of tún , and the church , the latter encircled by lava which has flowed towards it in an undivid- ed stream , parted ...
... lava . Now turn your eyes to the strip of land between us and the water . Below us is the farm , with its emerald patch of tún , and the church , the latter encircled by lava which has flowed towards it in an undivid- ed stream , parted ...
Contents
FOREWORD by Martin Graebe | xiv |
PREFACE | xli |
Chapter One | 1 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
according to Faber Akureyri Alpine Althing answered Arcturus asked Baring-Gould basalt bird Bjarg blue boat boiling bonder breeds Briggs brother called church clouds cold colour Danish Dettifoss door Drangey eggs Egill eruption exclaimed eyes farm farmer father feet fish fjord Forn Geysir Glámr grass Greenland Grettir grey Grímr Grimsey head heithi Hekla Herr Preyer hill Hólar horses Hrolleifr Icel Iceland Icelandic horse Icelandic name Illugi Ingimund island Jökull Jón Katla King Kolr Krafla lake lava look miles morning mountain Myvatn natives never night Oddr Ofeigr pony priest quoth reached Reykjahlith Reykjanes Reykjavík ride river rock rode round saddle Saga side snow species spot spring steam stone story summer Svínavatn swans Thingvalla Thorbjorn Thorfin Thorgils Thorhall Thorir Thorstein Trölladyngja tún turf vale Vatnsdalr visited whilst whimbrel wild wind winter