Sunday was a DAY OFF for me. It was sunny and beautiful and calm.
A perfect day for a great adventure to hike and explore the Snæfellsnes peninsula and glacier.
My friend, Ferne, and I took off early in the morning from Stykkishólmur and went on a tour taking many photos along the way.
The little fishing village of Arnarstapi is at the foot of a small mountain named Stapafell.
There is a saga writen about a half-man and half-troll that lived in a cave in this mountain. The saga, Bardar-Saga, tells the story about Bardar. His mother was human, but his father was half giant and half troll. He was fostered by a mountain dweller named Dofri, who had a daughter with a human mother. Bardar had three tall, beautiful daughters.
Bardur and his family emigrated to Iceland at the south shore of Snæfellsnes. He built his farm, Laugarbrekka. After one of his nephews pushed his daughter out to sea on an iceberg, Bardar got very mad and pushed one nephew into a ravine and threw the other off a high cliff. Bardar and his brother (the father of these two boys) then fought each other.
Afterwards, Bardar gave away his land and vanished into the nearby mountain glacier. He became known as the “guardian spirit” of Snæfell. He would help people that needed him and he wandered around the peninsula in a grey cowl with a walrus-hide rope around him, and a cleft staff in his hand with a long and thick gaff,” which he used when walking on glaciers.
I love all the trolls and hidden people who live in the mountains and rocks.
Many birds live in the cliffs along the coastline including a huge arctic tern colony in the town. We walked along the coastline to see the birds and the amazing lava formations. Three blowholes that are connected to the ocean can be seen along the way. If the wind is really blowing, the water comes up like a fountain. It was not that windy today but I still did not want to get too close to these holes in the lava.
Folklore of the people who live in Iceland and actually people from all over the world believe that there is special energy that comes from the Snaefells mountain and glacier. You can walk on a special hiking trail that connects the two fishing villages of Hellnar and Arnarstapi. From Arnarstapi people also hike to the top of the glacier.
If you come to Iceland, do not miss the Snæfellsnes peninsula. I have about 500 photos that I took that day, so this is just a tiny view of the beauty that we experienced that day.
