This Foreword, were it not for the tyrant Custom, might as well be omitted, since a preface is seldom read. Boldly I make my first appearance before the critical public with no excuses to offer and no apology to the reader for adding another volume to the long list of travel books in the English tongue. But I have reasons why I have ventured into print. First,—Iceland has a fascination for all who know it. Its history, its ancient and modern literature, its legends and folklore, the people with

Atossa. —And who is set over them as a shepherd of the flock, and is master of the army? Chorus. —They call themselves the slaves of no man, nor the subjects either. — Aeschylus. Historically, Iceland is unique. Assyria, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Mexico,—each has a prehistoric period of human habitation, when man loved and hated, and competed with the brutes for existence. He fashioned his instruments from stone and made self-preservation his first and only law. A sturdy race, little removed from th

The data for the preceding chapter have been drawn from the following works. To their authors, dead as well as living, the writer is pleased to make acknowledgment. HEIMSKRINGLA, Snorri Sturlason , Trans. by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson . This is in six volumes, published in London in 1895. Rare. BURNT NJAL, translated by Sir George W. Dasent , Edinburgh, 1861, two volumes. The Introduction is especially recommended. It has long been out of print but Grant Richards, London, in 1900, publi

Why do you choose Iceland for a vacation? I would go to a more interesting place, if I were you. This question has been asked so many times and similar comments have followed so often before I could answer the question that I write my answer here, as an inducement to you, who can not take the long journey with me literally, to follow me in imagination through these pages and live with me for a few brief hours in that far off land of fascination. The people interest me. The country was settled, n

Iceland is an island in the north Atlantic just east of Greenland. There is no boat service between it and America. The American must embark either from Copenhagen or from Leith. The Copenhagen boats, the mail boats of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab , always call at Leith and it is by this line and from Leith that we have always sailed for Iceland. We went on board the Laura at the Albert Dock in the afternoon of the eighth of July 1909, and steamed out through the Firth of Forth. At last, after

Considering the latitude and its isolation in the north Atlantic, the climate of Faroe is comparatively mild. Fierce storms from the north beat down upon the islands and the heavy sea often surges for days together through these narrow channels making it impossible for boats to pass from shore to shore. Even in calm weather the tide currents often run at ten knots an hour so that it is necessary for the boatman to have an accurate knowledge of the currents in order to make progress. The high pea

These islands are named for the Irish slaves, formerly called Westmen, who are reported to have fled to this desolate pile in 879. For centuries it was the resort of piratical expeditions from England and from far-away Barbary. The first recorded attack was made by an English crew under the command of “Gentleman John.” Three years afterwards the church property was restored by King James, and John was severely punished. The greatest raid was made in 1627. Barbary pirates were planning an expedit

After searching three years, Ingölfr found the storm-driven pillars cast ashore in a steaming creek. He called the place Reykjavik , the Smoking Creek . Hardly was the anchor down in the midstream before a rosy cheeked and genial gentleman came on board and introduced himself as Helgi Zoëga. He was the man with whom I had corresponded relative to arranging our trip, providing ponies, a guide and a pack train. To his quiet forethought and courteousness in after days I had much for which to be tha

We had expected to start on our tour through the south of Iceland at eight in the morning. It was ten when we left the enclosure where the ponies were saddled and the pack horses laden. There were eight ponies in the troup, two pack ponies, two riding ponies for each of us and two for the guide. If the riding is easy the ridden ponies are changed midway of the days ride. If the road is difficult the ponies are changed twice. Our guide was Johannes Zoëga, the uncle of Helgi. He was nearly seventy

Morning dawned with a gentle rain. Hour after hour it fell with no promise of abatement until ten, when the clouds were rifted, the sun shone through and the dripping plain glistened. We decided to set out for the long ride to Geysir . The ponies had been in readiness for an hour in anticipation of an earlier start. We turned into the trail leading across the plain, along the border of the lake towards Hrafnagjá , Johannes following with the train at some distance. When we reached the rift we ha

It requires an effort of the will to leave Geysir . There is a fascination in this heated area that is like the sirens in Ulysses’ tale. We mounted in the wind-driven spray of the little geyser and turned towards the Túngufljót , several tributaries of which had to be forded. The quicksands are frequent in these streams and must be avoided. Many ponies have foundered in them and brought their riders to grief. The grass plains are freely sprinkled with flowers and as we left the geyser region beh

Each day in Iceland brings new scenes. Each morning we found ourselves asking,—“What will be the excitement to-day?” The surprises of the landscape are innumerable. Though we were somewhat accustomed to the wild and strange scenery, each ascent of a ridge, each turning of a mountain angle presented surprising views. This is one of the charms of travel on horseback through a roadless country. The variety of scenes that unfold before the eye is as rich as the changes in New England weather. Day af

From Galtalaekur we turned towards the sea. All the long day we traversed the sands of Hekla and the bordering marshes. In the latter there is an abundance of the sand reed, Elymus arenarius , growing to a height of four feet or more with heavy panicles nodding in the wind. In times of famine the seeds of this plant have often been ground and used to make bread. Innumerable trails cross each other in these plains and exact knowledge of the locality is necessary in order to avoid wandering. We ov

I visited the east coast of Iceland on two consecutive summers. The first visit was in 1910 with Mrs. Russell; the second trip to this realm of fog was in 1911 as the geologist of the Stackhouse Expedition to Jan Mayen . During the former year we stopped at Eskifjörðr , Ash-Fiord, Seyðisfjörðr , Cooking-Fiord, and Vopnafjörðr ; during the latter visit the Expedition spent several days in the eastern fiords especially at Faskrudsfjörðr , Seyðisfjörðr and in the bight of Langaness , Long-Cape. We

Ólafur Eyvindsson had crossed the country from Reykjavik by way of the western dales with a train of eight ponies. The packing boxes, saddles and provisions had been forwarded by the coast steamer, so that when we landed from the Botnia , thanks to the faithfulness of Helgi Zoëga, everything was in readiness for our departure. At one in the afternoon we entered a launch and crossed the broad Eyjarförðr . On the beach we found a farmer with ponies saddled and waiting for our departure to Mývatn ,

In the early morning we mounted the best of our ponies for the toilsome ascent of Krafla , Creeping. We crossed the intervening ridge of mountains through the pass of Námaskarð , Solfatara-Pass, which is a deep defile in the volcanic range. At the base of this ridge there are spread out broad plains of multi-colored earth from which clouds of steam and sulfur gases ascend, which are visible for many miles across the lake. With caution we picked a way for the ponies amid the fumaroles and entered

Heimskringla, Vol. I. Sturlason . “On a day went the King a-walking in the street, and certain men met him, and he of them who went first greeted the King; and the King asked him of his name, and he named himself Hallfreðr .” “Art thou the skald?” said the king. Said he, “I can make verses.” Then said the King:—“Wilt thou take christening, and become my man thereafter?” Saith he:—“This shall be our bargain: I will let myself be christened, if thou, King, be thyself my gossip, but from no other m

The present house at Haukagill is finished inside with unpainted spruce from Norway, beautiful as old mahogany, having become soft reddish brown with age and frequent polishing with fine sand. Our bed chamber contained the pride of the family, a Connecticut clock adjusted to strike the hours and the quarters. Its gong was far from musical. The bells of Bruges had raised havoc with our sleep with their persistent struggle to be heard, but this clock, on a shelf at the head of the bed, reminded us

Accent:—The stress is always on the first syllable. Vowels:—The vowel sounds vary considerably from the modern English and much resemble the old Anglo-Saxon. Some changes have taken place in these sounds since the classical period of the Icelandic literature which was in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The following key will assist the reader to pronounce the Icelandic terms in this volume. Consonants:—The alphabet was taken from the Latin with the addition of two characters Þ th