Náttúrufræðingurinn - 2021, Side 38

Náttúrufræðingurinn
38
Ritrýnd grein / Peer reviewed
öll tók þrettán daga. Þetta var fyrsta
alíslenska ferðin yfir Vatnajökul fram og
til baka á seinni öldum. Með henni ráku
þessir ungu fullhugar rækilega slyðru-
orðið af forfeðrunum.58 Svo vill til að
sá sem þetta ritar hefur tekið ástfóstri
við gönguskíði einmitt til að kynnast
betur leyndardómum Vatnajökuls (22.
og 23. mynd).
ABSTRACT
The Vatnajökull glacier at its greatest
extent from 1600 to 1900, the search for
alternative routes along its northern
borders, speculations about the loca-
tion of Grímsvötn, the pioneering cross-
ings by foreigners from 1875 onwards
and later activity by Icelanders.
In the first and second articles
of this series, published in Vol. 90,
Nos. 2–3 and 4–5 (2020),1,2 the author
reviewed old sources about journeys
and routes across the Vatnajökull gla-
cier up to 1600, fishing activities off the
south coast, the earlier vegetation cover
and some dwelling sites on the north
side of the glacier.
In this, the last of three articles,
he describes how travelling across the
interior of Iceland became less common
and even came to a complete stop in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
After the routes across Vatnajökull were
abandoned, travel continued for some
time longer on the east of the glacier
to fishing stations in Lón and Horna-
fjörður. Interest in exploring the inte-
rior of the country and finding both old
and new routes revived shortly before
1800. One of these, “Vatnajökulsvegur”,
lay close to the northern side of the
glacier, running through Vonarskarð
or joining the Sprengisandur route
to the west.
Attention is also given to the
Grímsvötn volcano and what was
known, even in the medieval period,
by the people of Skaftafellssýslur, and
some others, about its location within
the glacier. The name Gríms Vatna
Jökull is preserved in sources from the
seventeenth century; this is probably
the antecedent form of the name Vatna-
jökull. During the nineteenth century
closer attention was given to eruptions
within the glacier and in 1883 measure-
ments from different locations provided
a precise location in what was later
to become known as the Grímsvötn
caldera.
For about 250 years, from the early
seventeenth century until 1875, there
are no records of anyone crossing Vatna-
jökull; after this began the visits by
foreign enthusiasts. The first of these
was the Englishman William L. Watts,
who travelled north across the glacier,
accompanied by Icelanders. Several
others followed, including Koch and
Wegener, on horseback, in 1912. Then,
in 1926, three young farmers’ sons from
Hornafjörður made the crossing in both
directions as their ancestors had done.
Now the great ice-cap is the playground
of thousands of visitors to the Vatna-
jökull National Park every year.
22. mynd. Við Goðheima, skála Jöklarannsóknafélagsins á Goðahnjúkum. Kristján Már Sigurjónsson og Kristín Einars-
dóttir. Grendill (1570 m) í baksýn. – On Goðahnjúkar (1460 m) in the eastern part of Vatnajökull, site of the Glaciological
Society's hut. In the background the peak Grendill (1570 m). Ljósm./Photo: Hjörleifur Guttormsson, 27. ágúst 1989.