Jökull - 01.12.1999, Síða 102

inevitable, and the subsequent flourishing of Hotel
Skaftafell is not only a great credit to Anna María and
Jón, but also a tribute to Ragnar and Laufey.
Nevertheless, there still remains the full story to be
written about the origins of the National Park and, in
my view, its present inadequate support and upkeep. I
know that Ragnar moumed the unkempt tún of Hæðir
and Sel. It is my belief that both tún and turf-roofed
buildings, an essential element of the surpassing beau-
ty I was privileged to enjoy in the 1950s, deserve to be
scythed every year, if only as an investment in tourism,
and the small museum of Sel properly equipped. This
itself would be a fitting tribute to Ragnar, but I hope to
add to this with a proposal that his life-long contribu-
tion and presence be attached to the National Park for-
ever by the official recognition of the unnamed summit
of 1,380 m that stands on guard over the Morsárjökull
icefalls, as “Ragnarstindur“.
Ragnar loved Icelandic proverbs and traditional
sayings. One of his most often recited is the some-
what cynical yet beautiful comparison of Iceland's
mountains with the frailty of what we once would
have referred to simply as “man“: Fjarlægðin gerir
fjöllin blá og mennina mikla
We all know that the mountains are blue in the dis-
tance; Ragnar, however, for those fortunate enough to
know him, became much more than even he may have
appeared on first acquaintance.
Jack D. Ives, Ottawa, Canada, 15 April, 1999
REFERENCES
Ives, J. D. 1991. Landscape change and human response dur-
ing a thousand years of climatic fluctuations and volcan-
ism: Skaftafell, Southeast Iceland. Pirineos, 137: 5-50.
Ives, J. D. 1996. Glacier and climate reconstruction in southeast
Iceland during the last two millennia: A reconnaissance.
Jahrbuch der Geog. Gesellschaft, Bem, 59: 123-132.
Ives, J. D. and C. A. M. King 1954. Glaciological observa-
tions on Morsárjökull, SW Vatnajökull - The ogive band-
ing. Joumal of Glaciology, 2 (16): 423-428.
Ives, J. D. and C. A. M. King 1955. Glaciological observa-
tions on Morsarjökull, SW Vatnajökull - Regime of the
glacier, past and present. Joumal of Glaciology, 2 (17):
477-482.
King, C. A. M. and J. D. Ives 1955. Glaciological observa-
tions on some of the outlet glaciers of southwest Vatn-
jökull: Glacier regime. Journal of Glaciology, 2 (18):
563-569.
King, C. A. M. and J. D. Ives 1956. Glaciological observa-
tions on some of the outlet glaciers of southwest Vatna-
jökull: Ogives. Joumal of Glaciology, 2(19): 646-651.
A view of Ragnarstindur (1380m) from the eastern slope of Miðfellstindur, looking a little south from east. The person is
Laurence Draper, member ofthe 1953, Nottingham University expedition
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JOKULL, No. 47, 1999