Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.06.2013, Side 9

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. júní 2013 • 9
cliffs.” But this was not the end
of the story.
At breakfast the next
morning Ragnar made an
intriguing claim. Earlier that
same year he had made a
startling discovery. On the
hillslope above the birch forest
he had located the remains of
a stone house. He urged that
Pauline and I walk over and
photograph it. He gave us a
detailed description so, with
a rucksack filled with kaffe og
pannurkakka we set off for a
long day’s outing. But search as
we would, not a trace could be
found. We told Ragnar of our
failure over dinner that evening.
Pauline was due to leave for
Reykjavík the next morning
en route for Heathrow. With
additional instructions I set out
alone for Morsárdalur, this time
not forgetting my binoculars.
On approaching the birch
forest, I sat down on the
sandur and slowly examined
the hillslope above the trees
through my binoculars. I
searched systematically using
vertical transects until I had
criss-crossed a wide section of
terrain. Eventually I found what
appeared to be a stone structure.
It was well hidden and I had to be
careful not to lose eye contact.
I then climbed the slope. In
the photograph I am inside the
collapsed hut looking out down
onto the valley floor. The roof
had fallen in but the doorway is
quite distinct. The weathered,
part lichen-encrusted, surfaces
convinced me that I had found
the remains of a small building
that had functioned about 200
years previously. From my
position I could look down and
imagine Einar’s farmers far
below, standing in their stirrups
and calling up to me.
There are two remaining
elements of this mystery.
The first is that Ragnar was
extremely surprised to realize
that his father, Stefan, had not
known about the collapsed
house. Stefan, like all his
ancestors, explained to his sons
the location of even the smallest
sheep pen, also every preferred
river crossing, routes across
mountain ridges, location of the
most distant and smallest patch
of potential mountain grazing
plot. Such was not only custom,
it was a duty. And Stefan had
never mentioned the old house
to Ragnar so he couldn’t have
known about it.
The second element
emerged some years later
after Ragnar’s death. The
National Park superintendent
in 2005 was Ragnar Frank
Kristjansson, also a great
friend. I had recounted to him
the story of the lady troll and
Einar. As this was of great
interest to the national park
Ragnar Frank set out to locate
the “troll’s house”. Repeated
searches, with park employees
in assistance, failed. I told
him he should be careful.
Perhaps we had offended the
lady troll and she had decided
to eradicate all trace of her
presence. He agreed with me
that Morsádalur did seem more
threatening that summer. But
then he tried a decidedly non-
traditional Icelandic approach.
The following summer he
offered the finder amongst his
staff a case of beer.
We still have to decide
whether the stone house was
used by a refugee from justice
or the lady troll. Why would
a troll need a house when
she can easily penetrate the
mountain side? Surely she
wanted to use the small hide
from which to pry on Einar’s
farmer friends – and on me in
the 1950s as one of the first
two Englishmen to have the
temerity to enter her domain.
View from Skorabrýr to Skeiðarárjökull and Lómagnúpur in far
distance.
View from Skorabrýr to Skeiðarárjökull and Lómagnúpur in
far distance
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beginning his instructions
to the farmers in order to
alert the lady troll, a murder
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