The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1955, Qupperneq 26

24
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Spring 1955
place in the history of the Icelandic
nation, we felt that we were standing
on sacred ground.
Later in June, together with Dr.
and Mrs. Hiarald Sigmar and Dr. Carl
E. Lund-Quist, of the Lutheran World
Council, we were the guests of Bishop
Asmundur GuSmundsson on a delight-
ful trip to two of the greatest scenic
wonders of Iceland, Geysir and Gull-
its yard neatly walled with lava blocks,
lies far below. White sheep are
straggling down a road of Tyrian blue.
Sunlight glints on the quiet water of
Tungufljot.”
Set in the framework of that magnif-
icent environment, Geysir at first lies
cradled in its 60 feet wide bowl, its
deep blue water boiling vigorously.
Then, helped along by a large dose of
bingvellir
foss. In her excellent book, Iceland:
New World Outpost (New York, 1948)
Mrs. Agnes Rothery has truthfully
and graphically described the impres-
sive surroundings of Geysir in the
following passage:
“Seventy miles from Reykjavik, a
rocky plateau overlooks the lovely
Haukadalur. Mountains touched with
darkest purple shade down to coppery
tones as they meet the red earth. They
make a circle around the horizon,
changing to amethyst, with green
shrubbery marking darker lines down
the slopes. A three-gabled farm house,
with red roof and turf outbuildings,
thick soap, poured into it by the
custodian, in due time it responds with
a tremendous eruption, flinging the
huge column of water 150 to 200 feet
in the air. With a brief interval, this
continued for 15 minutes. We had
witnessed one of Geysir’s great per-
formances, truly a majestic sight, never
to be forgotten.
Gullfoss (The Golden Waterfall),
near Geysir on the Hvita River, is
generally regarded as Iceland’s most
beautiful waterfall, of which there are
many. The river rushes over two great
ledges of rocks some 65 feet down into
a deep gorge, forming the mighty and