Jökull - 01.12.1999, Page 99

Ragnar Þ. Stefánsson - Skaftafell, 1914 -1994
Farmer and glaciologist
Ragnar crossing Skaftafellsá early summer 1954. The distant mountain is Lómagnúpur
I first met Ragnar in the middle of the Skaftafellsá on
7 July 1952. Helgi Arason had driven Harry and me
from Fagurhólsmýri along rugged trails, through
glacier rivers, and across boulder fields, with not infre-
quent “coffee stops“ at the welcoming farms we
passed on our way north. It was late evening. The
heavy clouds of the day had cleared; Hvannadalshnúkur
and Hrútsfjall gleamed a deep pink and the loom of
Vatnajökull hung over the Jökulfell. We pulled our
rucksacks out of the truck and set them down on the
small island of gravel in the middle of the river as a
horseman battled the deeper section ahead of us, lead-
ing two spare mounts. Ragnar dismounted. He shook
hands and said something we didn't understand, then
enthusiastically addressed Helgi and relieved him of
the mail. His companion, a young boy (nephew, Stefán
Benediktsson), had stayed on the far side with a trac-
tor. Ragnar, understanding that neither of us were ac-
customed to horses and glacier rivers, gestured that we
were not to look down at the fast current. After warm
goodbyes to Helgi, he led us and baggage across, one
by one. After loading the baggage onto the tractor he
drove it back, while Stefán led us on a helter-skelter
ride up through the low birch to Hæðir, where Anna
Pálsdóttir with Jón Stefánsson in gentle attendance,
urged us into a magnificent late-evening Icelandic
kaffi, replete with flatkökur and hangikjöt, pönnu-
kökur and cream, and more, more coffee. We were
eventually led to Sel, to the sleep of the just, the over-
excited, and the exhausted. Thus began a lifetime's
friendship, my personal commitment to Skaftafell, its
mountains and glaciers, but above all its people, and
especially Ragnar.
I had met Professor Sigurður Þórarinsson (Siggi)
the previous Easter during his lecture visit to Notting-
ham University. Coincidentally, in struggling for a seat
next to him at dinner, I met my future wife, Pauline,
then a Bedford College, London, undergraduate also
planning to go to Iceland. Siggi patiently obtained an-
other chair and sat between us, soine years later claim-
ing 49 percent (very diplomatically) of the credit for
our marriage. It was this meeting with Siggi that led to
his promise to write on my behalf to Ragnar Stefáns-
son of Skaftafell.
JÖKULL, No. 47,1999
97