Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
JÓN SIGURÐSSON
To Icelanders,
Jón Sigurðsson
(1811-69) is what Winston Churchill is to the British and
George Washington to the Americans. This is the man who, through his tremendous skills
of diplomacy, achieved independence from the Danes, who had almost bankrupted
Iceland during the time of the Trade Monopoly. Born in Hrafnseyri in 1811, Sigurðsson
spent the first 22 years of his life in his native West Fjords, and after completing the entry
examination for university study, he left for Copenhagen where he chose history and
political science among his subjects. Although a committed student, he never graduated
from the university, opting instead to dedicate his life to the
Árni Magnússon Institute
,
then a powerful symbol of the struggle for recognition against the Danes; this institute
fought a long battle to have many of Iceland's most treasured medieval manuscripts, kept
in Copenhagen by the Danish authorities, returned home. However, it wasn't until 1841
that Sigurðsson began his political activities, publishing a magazine in which he put
forward historical arguments for Iceland's right to independence. A prolific writer about
Icelandic history, politics and economics, he was later elected to the Icelandic parliament,
which regained its powers as a consultative body in 1843 thanks to his agitation. Further
reforms followed as a direct consequence of his influence, including the right to free trade
in 1854, and eventually, twenty years later, a
constitution
making Iceland self-governing
in home affairs. Sadly, Sigurðsson didn't live to see Iceland become a sovereign state under
the Danish crown on December 1, 1918, nor Iceland gain full independence from Denmark
on June 17, 1944, the anniversary of his birth - he died In Copenhagen in 1879, and his
body was returned to Reykjavík for a state funeral.
4
Turf farmhouse
he restored
turf farmhouse
next to the church, with its three gabled roofs, was the
birthplace of Jón Sigurðsson. At the rear of the building, his bedroom, containing the
desk from his office in Copenhagen, has been kept in its original state and offers an
insight into the ascetic life of one of Iceland's most revered figures.
Dynjandi
Twenty kilometres east of Hrafnseyri, at the point where Route 60 weaves around the
northeastern corner of Arnarfjörður, the impressive
Dynjandi
waterfall plunges over a
100m-high clifftop into the fjord at Dynjandisvogur inlet, forming a triangular cascade
roughly 30m wide at its top spreading to over 60m at its bottom. Below the main
waterfall a series of five smaller chutes carry the waters of the Dynjandisá to the sea. Lit
by the low sun, it's an incredibly pretty place to camp out on a summer night, though
the waterfall is famously noisy -
dynjandi
means “the thundering one”.
All long-distance buses make a ten-minute stop at Dynjandi; and with your own
transport, it's possible to reach the head of the falls - continue south along Route 60
for around 5km, and once the road has climbed up onto the Dynjandisheiði plateau,
you'll see the Dynjandisá river, which crosses the road; walk west from here, following
the course of the river to the falls.
Flókalundur and around
South of Dynjandisheiði, Route 60 continues over a spectacular highland plateau, passing
Lónfell
(725m) and the turn-off onto Route 63 for Patreksfjörður via Bíldudalur (see
p.200), before finally descending to the south coast and Route 62 at
FLÓKALUNDUR
.
Consisting of just a hotel, restaurant and a petrol pump, there's little to note here other
than the fact that the Viking
Flóki Vilgerðarson
, who named Iceland, once spent a winter
here. He climbed Lónfell, only to be dismayed by the icebergs floating in the fjord and
named the land “Ísland”, as the inscription on the monument in front of the
Flókalundur
hotel
, overlooking Vatnsfjörður, reminds modern-day Icelanders.
