Pingvellir - Site of Iceland's parliament

A normal traveler would’ve probably hung out around Reykjavik (named smoky bay due to geothermal steam activity) to recover from a red eye flight, but I figured it would be better driving inland a couple hours and hiking around pingvellir, “the fields of parliament”. Iceland lies at the intersection of ever moving North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and seismic zone in the south west. It’s unique in that the plates are visible above land. At pingvellir, you can see the North American plate, which continues all the way to California. From the entry, you can start at the top of the North American plate at can survey the land... a strange landscape of lakes, fissures, volcanic rock, streams. With the four hour delay, I got there in time for a free tour of the site in English which started at the church at the bottom of the valley. The modest parish church sits next to a Norse pagan circular mound where two famous poets have been buried.

It is said that the Greeks first landed here.. the Irish monks.. then the Vikings from Norway. By 900 AD there were 39 chieftains on the island. To ensure people lived in harmony, Geitskör proposed this area as the meeting place for Icelanders in 930 AD. Like Washington DC, he chose a place that was neutral. DC was sited where it was because it was between north and south... industry vs agriculture, free vs. slave... it was a compromise in location to ensure one side did not have an advantage. The same reasoning held true a pingvellir. The chieftains all around the island would come here during the summer... when it was warm enough to travel here by horse. The horses in the summer could graze in the fields on their journey, that’s why the convening occurred at this time of year. For 2 weeks, the chieftains had to lay their arms down before entering pingvellir... it was a place where all could air their concerns. They speakers would make their pleas in front of the North American tectonic plate cliff. In this dramatic location, the longest standing parliament in the world was created and still operates today (but in Reykjavik).

Today, you can see the layers of settlement.. the stones laid out for foundations, the barren landscape that resulted from tree harvesting, the pagan mound, and the church. What’s striking about this place is the running water. It’s glacial water but crystal clear which is unusual. Glacial water is usually cloudy with minerals. In the Canadian Rockies the water is milky translucent blue and green. Here it is exceptionally clear. You can see 100 meters through the water it’s so clear

The tour guide looked like a Viking. Very tall and solidly built. As we walked the streams and rivers he told the stories of the place through Icelandic sagas (which he aid usually end in lose lose tragic situations), and political history (ambitions in power).

The saga story he told of the site was a love story. At a summer meeting, gunnlaug fell in love with beautiful helga. He asked and received permission to marry her from her dad. But before marriage he took part in Viking conquests for 3 years. In battle he met a good friend hrafn.... he told him about helga and her legendary beauty. Little did he know, when Hrafn left battle, he went to Iceland to meet helga. He told helga that gunlaug had died in battle, and married helga. Upon return, gunlaug felt betrayed.

It was at pingvellir that they decided to settle the score. Since they were both great warriors, the parliament made a rule, that they should not fight to the death as that would lose a great warrior. So they fought till they drew first blood. Gunlaug won, but they were unsatisfied with the result... they wanted to fight to the death.

So they went to Norway to fight. There Gunlaug chopped off hrafn’s leg. As he lay dying, Hrafn made a dying wish. He wanted to drink some water. When gunlaug returned with a helmet of water, Hrafn plunged a sword into him, killing him. The next year, helga married another man. In this way, the saga ended lose lose--  the typical ending of Icelandic saga.

Would you have guessed pingvellir was Iceland's Washington DC? Murcutt would say it starts with geology... then the streams and water to support the fish and trees... the backdrops for their hearings and airing their grievances in natural amphitheaters... thousands would descend on this valley yearly for 1000 years..