Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.11.1997, Page 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.11.1997, Page 5
Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 7, november 1997 • 5 The Giantess Below the Falls Translated by Gunnur Isfeld lcelandic Editor She was not an ill-willed being. She had a kettle full of gold. She lived in a cave below Fardaga-falls. Gunnar Hersveinn went hiking across Fjarðar-heath to visit the gentle giantess and to enquire about her gold. Below the beautiful Fardaga-falls there lived a night troll. Her cave is not all that difficult to reach. The visitor can take the road from Egilsstaðir across Eyvindar River Bridge and up a narrow trail leading over the mountain toward Seyðisfjord — or follow the Miðhúsa River. On a sunny summer day it is a re- freshing walk beside a clear mountain lake, green growth and berry bushes on the heath. Gufu Falls waterfall is located at the center of the mountain! Looking down over the precipice is dizzying. Fardaga-falls (Day of Departure Falls) is one of three water falls in Miðhúsa River, a tributary of Eyvindar River, which in tum runs into Lagarfljót. Folklore has it that the cave mns all the way through the mountain to Seyðisfjord — and that at one time a cat managed to get all the way through. We can hear the din coming from the giantess’ cave, hid- den behind the falls. She is supposedly harmless. She is said to own a kettle full of gold — it might be worthwhile visiting her. The last leg of the trail to her cave is treacherous. The chains fastened to the cliffs make it easier for the faint-hearted. We step lightly on the wet ground and hold on tight. Soon the cave opening is visible; we can easily jump into the roomy cave opening. The water plunges down in front of our eyes, but the giantess is dead and the gold all gone. Behind a boulder lies her guest book. The sun shone through the water into the cave, forming a rainbow — like a hoola hoop circle around me — and I made a wish. On the way back I learned that shortly before her death the giantess had tossed the gold kettle onto a ledge at the centre of Gufu Falls. On the ledge there is a deep giantess’ kettle and an eddy. No one has ventured dowu there to dive for the gold — neither have I — not yet. □ Left: Fardagafoss at the edge of Fjarðar Heath. Top: Rejoicing in the giantess’cave. Above: The rainbow in the cave. Skessan undir fossinum Hún var ekki meinvættur en átti ketil fullan af gulli. Hún bjó í helli undir Fardagafossi. Gunnar Hersveinn gekk ó'xlina í Fjarðarheiði og heimsótti tröllkonuna góðu og spurði um gullið. Undir Fardagfossi hinum fagra í brún Fjarðarheiðar býr nátttröll sem fremur auðvelt er að heimsækja. Gengið er til dæmis fra' Egilsstöðum yfir Ey- vindarárbrú og upp fjallsöxlina eins og leiðin lægi til Seyðisfjarðar. Leiðin er stikuð eftir þröngri tröð en í raun er nóg að fylgja Miðhúsaánni og byrja við Folaldafoss. Ferð í sumarsól er heilnæm og hressandi með tæru fjallavatni, fagurgrænum gróðri og berjalyngi — en á miðri leið í miðri fjallshlíðini er Gufufoss! Að líta yfir hengiflugið er svimandi. Fardagafoss er efstur þriggja fossa í Miðhúsaá, sem fellur í fljótið. Gömul mæli se&ja að úr hellinum í Fardagafossi liggi gangur í Seyðisfjörð og að ketti hafi einu sinni tekist að fara hann. Ur helli skessu, sem er falinn bak við fallvatnið í Fardagafossi, berast aftur á móti drunur. Skessan undir fossinum er ekki meinvættur og er sögð eiga fullan ketil af gulli — og ef til vill þess virði að leggja á sig ferð til hennar. Síðasti spölurinn í hellinn er varasamastur. Keðjur eru negldar á klettaveggina. Varlega er stigið í blautan jarðveginn og fastlega haldið, brátt blasir minnisopið við og gott að hoppa inn i þægilega stóran hellinn. Fossinn steypist niður fyrir framan augun en skessan er dauð og gullið horfið. Bak við vörðu í helinum er gestabók skessunnar. Sólin lýsti gegnum vatnið inn í hellinn og bjó til regnboga líkan húllahopphring utan um mig og ég óskaði mér. Á leiðinni til baka frétti ég að skessan hefði skömmu fyrir andlát sitt varpað gullinu á stall í miðjum Gufufossi, en á stallinum er djúpur skessuketill og hringiða. Enginn hefur haft hugrekki til að stíga þar niður og kafa eftir gullinu, ekki ég heldur, ekki enn. □ YOUR TRIP TO ICEUND We are a family in the village ofVik utho haue utorked for several years in the tourism industrg — as bus driver. guide and hotel manager. With our experience in this fíeld and the fact that tue are otuners of a hotel. a guest house and a bus company. tue offer to organize trips to Iceland for individuals and groups all year round for a reasonable price. To bring you closer to the Icelanders and their tvay oflife tue visit a traditional farm. tuool factory. fish farm. and offer you to enjoy a dinner in an lcelandic home. More usual actiuities, but almays exciting. include horseback riding snoivmobilmg. físhing, 4x4 safari tours and river rafting. Víkurbrout 24a og 26 •870 Vík Simi 487 1212 • Fax 487 1404 For further information fax your requests to Hótel Lundi. Fax 354-487-1404 or call. Tel 354-487-1212 ► K h TT Kathy Schultz, niece of Fred and Sigrid Ott of Switzerland, wrote the poem below after her second trip to Iceland. “Iceland” shares her impres- sions of the country that so fascinated her. Kathy, of Westem Icelandic descent, was bom in North Dakota, and is now a graphic artist in Santa Rosa, California. lceland öorne in by the Sea, on the dreams of fishermen, the cold, West wind sweeps up steep, barren slopes spilling down and devouring vast lunar landscapes of dark, twisted lava and steam gushinq geysers, it blows over rooftops of sod-covered houses and up past the steeples on white, country churches, it flows through the manes of proud, purebred ponies and reddens the cheeks of blond, blue-eyed babies then, flies to embrace the distant blue glaciers on peaks far away. Soft layers of green struggle up toward the 5un whose lingering rays turn the night into dawn in a land ruled by Nature’s fierce forces which test a Nation’s resolve, live a people so blessed with courage and patience and love for it all, they triumph in crisis and humbly give thanks for lives lived in wonder of all they survey, watching fire and thunder light Nature’s display, hearing winds full of voices when rocks all have eyes they tell the old 5agas and warm the cold nights with a family’s devotion to each gentle soul and the love of a Nation with riches untold. K. 5chultz, 1996

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