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