Jökull - 01.12.2003, Síða 7

The 1783–1785 Laki-Grímsvötn eruptions
pected to have a greater distribution than noted above.
Therefore, Eldrit 1 appears to contain the most realis-
tic description on the amount of ash that fell in the Fire
districts during the first days of the eruption. It is pos-
sible that Steingrímsson magnified the descriptions of
the ash-fall and the eruption cloud when he realised
the effects the eruption had on the community and the
environment.
There is a considerable inconsistency between
Eldrit 2 and Eldrit 3 in their documentation of events
around 16 June. In Eldrit 2 the events are described
as follows: “15, 16, 17 June the lava flowed with the
same rate towards south and southwest from the farm
Skál, which was still standing. The flow crept into
hollows in the older lavas [i.e. the 934 A.D. Eldgjá
lava] and caused them to swell up so high, that those
who did not see it with their own eyes would find it
hard to believe. These old crags and boulders were
thrown up into the air with a cracking noise as if many
cannons were fired off, but on impact loud claps and
rumble were heard.” In Eldrit 3 the events are de-
scribed as such: “On 16 June the weather was the
same [as on 15 June]; an awful lava surge emerged
from the Skaftá River gorge, so that the whole gorge
appeared to be filled up by the lava. This surge com-
pletely abolished and destroyed the following farms
that belonged to the abbey and the king: Á in Síða
and Nes in Skaftártunga, each worth 1200 coins of sil-
ver. It also flowed over and covered the old lava flows
between the Síða and Skaftártunga districts, which
were largely grown up with brushwood and trees, very
useful pasturelands. This area included Brandaland,
a good woodcutting area, belonging to Kirkjubæjar-
klaustur. — Brandaland was located west-southwest
of the pinnacle Skálarstapi in the nook where the river
turns east along the Síða scarp and bordered by a
branch from the Skaftá River. This surge destroyed
the so-called Skálargarðar and Holtsgarðar, where it
was stationary for a while. Another lobe of lava ad-
vanced south towards the Meðalland district, where it
first flowed over the Botnar and Steinsmýri lavas. The
activity was intense to the north of the mountains bor-
dering the Síða district, with cracking and crashing
sounds, fire and haze, along with earthquakes, such
that no one was certain whether the settlement was
going to be saved. Therefore 3 farmers, who lived at
the farm Mörtunga, climbed up to the highest lookout
point on mountain Kaldbakur for visual observation
on the progress of these fires in the pasture. They saw,
as it appeared to them, 22 columns of fire rising from
the fissure in Úlfarsdalur Valley. — On 16 June was
calm weather, so I [Steingrímsson] made a trip out to
the farm Skál to look after the church and its belong-
ings and also to see and observe carefully the advance
of the lava flow.”
These two descriptions do not have much in com-
mon. However, their difference does not have any
bearing on their veracity or which is the correct one.
The description in Eldrit 3 gains a new perspective
when considered in broader context and compared to
the descriptions from 13 to 20 June in Eldrit 2. In both
works Steingrímsson describes the occurrence of two
lava surges in the period of 13 to 20 June. According
to Eldrit 2 they occurred on the nights before 15 June
and on 18 June, respectively. In Eldrit 3 the former
surge is said to have occurred on 16 June and the lat-
ter on 18 June. Steingrímsson’s descriptions of each
event are very similar in both accounts; they only dif-
fer in the date of the former surge. In Eldrit 2 Stein-
grímsson states that two trips were undertaken to ex-
plore the progress of the eruption in the Síða high-
lands, on 13 June and 20 June, respectively. In Eldrit
3 he does not mention these trips on the above noted
dates. A similar description of an exploratory trip, as
is noted on 13 June in Eldrit 2 (see Thordarson et al.,
this issue), is present in Eldrit 3 in writings about the
events on 16 June (see quotation above), suggesting
that these are descriptions of the same trip. It is also of
interest that in Eldrit 3 the date 16 June occurs twice
in the same paragraph, despite that the description of
events is coherent and in continuity. This is the only
time that this occurs in the whole work.
The progress of the eruption between 13–15 June
as it is described in Eldrit 2 is very similar to the de-
scription on 16 June in Eldrit 3. It appears that Stein-
grímsson summarised the course of events from 13 to
15 June into one paragraph in his final work and most
likely confused the dates.
The descriptions of the advance of the lava that
followed the explosive activity on 29 July directly
JÖKULL No. 53, 2003 5