Iceland review - 2014, Page 34

32 ICELAND REVIEW
found in Skagafjörður and eyjafjörður,
which is why the walls of the turf
farms Glaumbær in Skagafjörður and
laufás in eyjafjörður were made of
turf. Meanwhile, in Grenjaðarstaður
in aðaldalur, Þingeyjarsýsla, lava rocks
were considered to be the best-suited
building material, as was also the case
in turf houses in other areas marked
by volcanic eruptions. The same can
be said about the walls of the turf farm
Þverá in laxárdalur, for example.
it is interesting for those travel-
ing the country to keep this in mind
and observe the turf farms in context
with their surroundings. This sum-
mer, tourists have enjoyed visiting the
district museums and the national Museum’s turf farms
around the country and experiencing their environment,
where history and nature merge. The turf houses fit
perfectly into the icelandic landscape, are built from
local materials and have through the ages served as
shelter from the icelandic climate. They bear witness
to icelandic handicraft and ingenuity in house building
and the relationship between the nation and its country.
Hörður Árnason, who is among iceland’s foremost aca-
demics in this field, put it this way: “The turf house, the
icelandic turf farm is, above anything else, one of man’s
many solutions to the past and present problem of how
to find shelter from the harsh nature and bad weather;
to create a refuge for himself and his family and a place
to work and play under different conditions at differ-
ent times. it’s part of the history of the house on planet
earth.” *
heritAGe
keldur at rangárvellir.
Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir is the General Director of the Department of
Cultural Heritage, Prime Minister’s Office, Iceland.