Sherry Felix – port4u

Also on July 19 we stopped briefly at Hraunfossar and Barnafoss waterfalls.

The Hraunfossar waterfalls (Lava Falls) in Borgarfjordur are a beautiful and unusual natural phenomena. The water seems to magically appear from the lava but is actually a clear cold spring that surges through the ground and runs in rapids down into the Hvita River.

The nearest settlement of significance to Hraunfossar is Reykholt. This tiny village has a huge history, being home to the legendary writer, chieftain, lawspeaker and poet Snorri Sturluson. Without Snorri, huge amounts of Icelandic, Nordic and even British history would be unknown. He catalogued a history of Norwegian kings and their relations with other monarchs in his work Heimskringla, as well as the Norse mythological beliefs in Prose Edda. It is believed that Snorri first wrote many of the sagas still read today.

An Icelandic folk tale associated with Barnafoss, is about two boys from a nearby farm, Hraunsás. One day, the boys’ parents went with their ploughmen to a church. The boys were supposed to stay at home, but as they grew bored they decided to follow their parents. They took a shortcut over a natural stone-bridge above the waterfall. They fell into the water and drowned. When their mother found out what had happened, she put a spell on the bridge saying that nobody would ever cross it without drowning himself. A little while later, the bridge was demolished in an earthquake. There is another stone bridge there now.

We stayed at Hotel Klettur in Reykjavik for the second time. Dinner was at the Sjavargrillid in Reykjavik seafood grill restaurant. We had the lamb dinner there which was one of the best in the trip. The waiter said jokingly that it was best not to tell me how they make lamb so tender in Iceland.

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