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Iceland: Fire and
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LAND
OF MYTH
The people who settled Iceland had to be hardy and courageous. And
they had to be creative, if only to find ways to pass the time during
the long, dark Icelandic winter, when the sun disappears from the sky
for much of the day.  Indeed,
it may have been the challenge of keeping cooped-up families entertained
that produced Iceland's rich and varied literature. From heroic myths
to ponderous sagas, Iceland's artists have produced a wealth of work
that continues to entertain the world to this day.
Many of these wonderful stories highlight how Icelanders perceived their
natural neighbors. ICELAND: FIRE AND ICE, for instance, profiles three
birds -- the whooping swan, the ptarmigan, and the gyrfalcon -- that
figure prominently in Icelandic myth. The elegant swans that come to
Iceland's lakes and hot springs each year, island residents believed,
were god-like Valkyries: beautiful maidens who chose which heroes were
to die in battle. Some believed the hot springs carried restorative
powers that the Valkyries could find nowhere else on earth -- and, in
a sense, they were right. Iceland's thermal pools do provide a rich
array of food to ducks and other swimming birds, making them favored
feeding grounds. Indeed, Iceland's Lake Myvatn supports more than a
dozen species of ducks in summer, more than are found anywhere else
in Europe. The birds are partly attracted by the hordes of insects that
breed in the lake -- which explains its name, translated as "lake
of the flying midges."
The tale of the ptarmigan and the gyrfalcon is more dramatic. Once,
legend has it, the plump, ground-dwelling ptarmigan and the fleet gyrfalcon
hunter were sisters. They lived side by side, playfully tangling at
times. One day, the gyrfalcon accidentally killed her sister without
knowing it. When she realized what she had done, an anguished cry filled
her throat and sprang from her beak, echoing across the land. To this
day, the lonely cry of the gyrfalcon can be heard in the hills of Iceland.
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Gyrfalcon chicks.
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Like the swan myth, the story of the gyrfalcon does carry the thread of
truth. For the hunter and its prey are inexorably intertwined: some gyrfalcons
dine solely on ptarmigan. To protect it from predators, in winter, the
ptarmigan's white plumage helps the bird blend into the snowy ground.
In summer, however, only the female's feathers change to a dull brown
that allows it to hide in the snowless hills. The male remains a sparkling
white, making it an easy target if it is caught in the open.
Fittingly, Icelanders even have a myth involving the change of the seasons.
Each spring, they say, Freyr, the god of sunlight, must battle the enemy
forces of winter to retake the skies. Each fall, however, Freyr must retreat
again -- and Icelanders cozy up in warm living rooms to retell ageless
stories.
Iceland: Fire and
Ice Home
Fire Meets Ice | Land of
Myth | Living With
Nature | Resources
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