In the _Gretla_, an Icelandic Saga of the thirteenth century, is an
account of the discovery of a remarkable valley buried among glacier-laden
mountains, by the hero, a certain Grettir, son of Asmund, who lived in the
beginning of the eleventh century. Grettir was outlawed for having set
fire, accidentally, to a house in Norway, in which were at the time the
sons of an Icelandic chief, too drunk to escape from the flames. He spent
nineteen years in outlawry, hunted from place to place, with a price on
his head. The Saga relating his life is one of the most interesting and
touching of all the ancient Icelandic histories.
In the year 1025 Grettir was in such danger that he was obliged to seek
out some unknown place in which to hide. In the words of the Saga:--About
autumn Grettir went up into Geitland, and waited there till the weather
was clear; then he ascended the Geitland glacier and struck south-east
over the ice, carrying with him a kettle and some firewood. It is supposed
that Hallmund (another outlaw) had given him directions, for Hallmund
knew much about this part of the country. Grettir walked on till he found
a dale lying among the snow-ranges, very long, and rather narrow, and shut
in by glacier mountains on all sides, so that they towered over the dale.
He descended at a place where there were pleasant grassy slopes and
shrubs. There were warm springs there, and he supposed that the volcanic
heat prevented the valley from being closed in with glaciers.
A little river flowed through the dale, and on both banks there was smooth
grassy meadow-land. The sunshine did not last long in the valley. It was
full of sheep without number, and they looked in better condition and
fatter than any he had seen before. Grettir now set to work, and built
himself a hut with such wood as he could procure. He ate of the sheep, and
found that one of these was better than two of such as were to be found
elsewhere.
An ewe of mottled fleece was there with her lamb, the size of which
surprised him. He fattened the lamb and slaughtered it, and it yielded
forty pounds of meat, the best he had tasted. And when the ewe missed her
lamb, she went up every night to Grettir’s hut and bleated, so that he
could get no sleep. And it distressed Grettir that he had killed her lamb,
because she troubled him so much. Every evening, towards dusk, he heard a
lure up in the dale, and at the sound all the sheep hurried away towards
the same spot. Grettir used to declare that a Blending,[19] a Thurse
named Thorir, possessed the dale, and that it was with his consent that
Grettir lived there. Grettir called the dale after him, Thorir’s dale.
Thorir had two daughters, according to his report, and Grettir entertained
himself with their society: they were all glad of his company, as visitors
were scarce there. When Lent came on, Grettir determined to eat mutton-fat
and liver during the long fast. There happened nothing deserving of record
during the winter. But the place was so dull that Grettir could endure it
no longer; so he went south over the glacier range, and came north over
against the midst of Skjaldbreid. There he set up a flat stone, and
knocked a hole through it, and was wont to say, that “if any one looked
through the hole in the slab, he would be able to distinguish the place
where the gill ran out of Thorir’s dale.”
It is surprising that this account should not have stirred up the interest
and curiosity of the natives to rediscover the rich valley, but we know of
only two such attempts having been made: one by Messrs. Olafsen and
Povelsen, at the close of last century, which was unsuccessful, and
another, made in 1654, by Björn and Helgi, two Icelandic clergymen, an
account of which is found among the Icelandic MSS. in the British Museum,
and which has been kindly communicated to the writer of this paper by a
native of the island, now in London. This account is of exceeding
interest; it corroborates the description in the _Gretla_ in several
points, and opens a field for exploration and adventure to members of the
Alpine Club more novel than the glacier world of Switzerland, and not less
interesting to science.
The writer, who visited Iceland in 1862, purposed exploring this
mysterious valley from the south, but was unable to find grass for his
horses within a day’s ride of the glaciers, and was obliged to relinquish
his attempt; had he then seen the account of the visit of Björn and Helgi
to the valley, he would have attempted to reach it from the north.
In order that the position of this valley, and the course pursued by its
explorers, may be understood, it will be necessary briefly to describe the
glacier system in the midst of which it is situated.
Lang Jökull is an immense waste of snow-covered mountain, extending about
forty-three miles from north-east to south-west, of breadth varying
between eight and twelve miles. The mass rises into points of greater
elevation along the edge than, apparently, towards the centre; and these
mountains go by the names of Ball Jökull, Geitlands Jökull, Skjaldbreid
Jökull, Blàfell Jökull, and Hrutafell. Skjaldbreid Jökull is opposite the
volcanic dome of Skjaldbreid, an extinct volcano, with its base steeped in
a sea of lava. Due east of Geitlands Jökull is another glacier-crowned
dome, called Ok, from which it is cut off by a trench of desolate ruined
rock filled with the rubbish brought down by the avalanches on either
side--a rift between black walls of trap, crowned with green precipices
of ice, which are constantly sliding over the rocky edges and falling with
a crash into the valley: this valley is called Kaldidalr, or the cold
dale--a title it well deserves. Those who traverse it from the south
encamp at a little patch of turf around some springs, at the foot of
Skjaldbreid, Brunnir by name, and thence have twelve hours’ hard riding
before they see grass again on the Hvitá, north of Ok. Half-way through
this Allée Blanche is a mountain of trachyte, which has been protruded
through the trap, from which it is clearly distinguishable by its silvery
gray and ruddy streaked precipices, so different in colour from the
purple-black of the trap.
This mountain is called Thorir’s Head, and is popularly supposed to mask
the dale discovered by Grettir.
The elaborate map of Iceland published by Gunnlaugson indicates the valley
as winding from opposite Skjaldbreid to this point, but this is
conjectural; and it will be seen by the sequel that it is inaccurate.
North of Geitlands Jökull is an extraordinary dish-cover-shaped cake of
ice raised on precipitous sides, called Eîrek’s Jökull, a magnificent, but
peculiar pile of basalt, ice, and snow.
Before proceeding with the narrative of Messrs. Olafsen and Povelsen, and
of the two clergymen, we may observe that several circumstances tend to
give a colour of probability to the account in the _Gretla_.
In the first place, the phenomenon of the edges of the great glacier
region of Lang Jökull rising above the centre, makes it possible that
towards that centre there may be a considerable depression. Next, the
stone asserted to have been set up by Grettir on Skjaldbreid still stands,
but has fallen out of the perpendicular, so that the hole in it does not
point to any opening in the glaciers; but a little to the right appears a
small ravine between piles of ice, through which runs a small river, which
shortly after enters a lake, and, after having fed two other lakes,
finally enters the Tungafljot, and flows past the geysers. And once more,
throughout Iceland, the junction of the trap and trachyte is marked by
boiling jetters; so that the mention of the hot-springs in the _Gretla_ is
quite in accordance with what the geological structure of Thorir’s Head
would lead us to expect.
The suspicious portion of the account is the mention of Thorir and his
daughters; but in all probability this Troll was nothing more than an
outlaw, like Grettir himself, and, indeed, Hallmund, who is alluded to as
having given Grettir his direction to the valley, and who was a personal
friend of Grettir’s, and an outlaw, is called a Troll in the Barda Saga,
which speaks of him and the Thorir of the mysterious vale.
It is a curious fact that, in the south-east of the island, in the Vatna
Jökull, a tract very similar in character to Lang Jökull, but on a far
larger scale, is a valley full of grass and flowers and glistening birch,
completely enclosed by glaciers, which sweep down on this little fairy
dell from all sides, leaving only one narrow rift for the escape of the
water, and as a portal to the glen.
The expedition of Messrs. Olafsen and Povelsen is given in their own
words. “On the 9th of August we started from Reykholtsdal on our way to
the glacier of Geitland; our object was not so much to discover a region
and inhabitants different from those we had quitted, as to observe the
glacier with the most scrupulous accuracy, and thus to procure new
intelligence relative to the construction of this wonderful natural
edifice. The weather was fine and the sky clear, so that we had reason to
expect that we should accomplish our object according to our wish, but it
is necessary to state that in a short time the Jökulls attract the fogs
and clouds that are near. On the 10th of August in the morning the air was
calm, but the atmosphere was so loaded with mist that at times the glacier
was not visible. About eleven o’clock, however, it cleared up, and we
continued our journey from Kalmanstúnga.
“The high mountains of Iceland rise in gradations, so that on approaching
them you discover only the nearest elevation, or that whose summit forms
the first projection. On reaching this you perceive a similar height, and
so pass over successive terraces till you reach the summit. In the
glaciers these projections generally commence in the highest parts, and
may be discovered at a distance, because they overtop the mountains that
are not themselves glacier-clad. We found that it was much farther to the
Jökull than we had imagined, and at length we reached a pile of rocks
which, without forming steps and gradation at the point where we ascended,
were of considerable height and very steep: these rocks extend to a great
distance, and appear to surround the glacier, for we perceived their
continuance as far as the eye could reach.[20] Between this pile of rocks
and the glacier there is a small plain, about a quarter of a mile in
width, the soil of which is clay without pebbles and flakes of ice,
because the waters which continually flow from the glacier carry them off.
On ascending farther, we discovered, to the right, a lake situated at one
of the angles of the glacier, the banks of which were formed of ice, and
the bed received a portion of the waters that flowed from the mountains.
The water was perfectly green, a colour it acquired by the rays of light
that broke against the ice.[21]
“After many turnings and windings we found a path by which we could
descend with our horses into the valley. On arriving there we met with
another embarrassment, as well in crossing a rivulet discharged from the
lake, as in passing the muddy soil, in which our horses often sank up to
the chest. In some parts this soil is very dangerous to travellers, many
of whom have been engulphed and have perished in it.
“Our object was so far attained, that we were now on Geitland, but we
found it a very disagreeable place. We observed a mountain peak rising
above the ice, and which, as well as the other peaks, had been formed by
subterranean fires. We led our horses over the masses of ice, after which
we left them, and travelled the remainder of the way on foot. We had taken
the precaution of providing ourselves with sticks armed with strong
points, and with a strong rope in case of either of the party falling into
a crevasse, or sinking in the snow. Thus prepared we began to escalade the
glacier at two o’clock in the afternoon; the air was charged with dense
fog covering all the mountain, but, hoping it would disperse, we continued
our difficult and dangerous route, though at every instant we had to pass
deep crevasses, one of which was an ell and a half in width, and the
greatest precaution was required in crossing it.
“As we mounted higher the wind blew much stronger, and drove larger flakes
of snow before it: fortunately we had the wind in our backs, which
facilitated our ascent; but we met at the same time with so much loose
snow that our progress was but slow. Hoping, however, that the weather
would change, we agreed not to return till we had gained the summit, from
which arose a black rock.
“At length, after two hours’ longer tramp, we found that we could discover
nothing in the distance. A rampart of burnt rock of no considerable height
rose above the ice, and at this we paused to rest. The snowflakes now
obscured the air so much that we hardly knew how we should get back: we
examined the compass, but without observing any change; and we were
prevented by our guides from going towards the north-west, where the
mountain is highest and least accessible. The weather continued the same,
so that we found it impossible to resist the cold much longer, and deemed
it prudent to return.
“Although the sky was very heavy and dark, we discovered, on our return,
the entrance to a valley; if the weather had been more favourable we
should doubtless have had the pleasure of investigating it; but we doubt
whether we should have found Thorir’s dale. As we descended we found the
wind in our face, which threw the snow so much against us that we could
not discover the traces of our ascent.”
This expedition was frustrated by the inclemency of the weather. Messrs.
Olafsen and Povelsen made the mistake of starting in the morning. In
Iceland vapours form over the mountain tops directly that the evening sun
loses its power, and although there is no night, the air is sensibly
colder after 6 P.M. They had the fine part of the day for the ascent from
Kalmanstúnga to the snow, and their journey over the glacier was at a time
when they might almost have calculated on cloud and snow.
Probably they had not seen the description of the discovery made by Björn
and Helgi in 1654. They allude to the expedition of these clergymen, but
give one of them a wrong name, and speak of their journal as vague and
confused, which it is not.
The account of the expedition of the two clergymen, Björn and Helgi,
written in the same year that it was undertaken, is now, in Icelandic, in
the British Museum. It is full of interest, and sufficiently curious to
deserve attention. Björn and Helgi were brothers-in-law. In the summer of
1654, they met at Nes, where they had some conversation about Thorir’s
dale, and Helgi told his brother-in-law that he was convinced that either
the valley itself, or some traces of it, could be seen by any one who
would ascend the highest ridge of Geitlands Jökull. In consequence of this
conversation, Björn, attended by two men, rode to Húsafell, where lived
his sister and brother-in-law, and persuaded Helgi to accompany him on the
glacier. Húsafell lies just under Ok. They started at an extremely early
hour on St. Olaf’s Day (28th July), without mentioning their intention to
any one. This was on Thursday. They soon turned from the highway,
following the west side of a cleft that enters a trunk-ravine near
Húsafell,[22] and then, reaching the north side of Ok glacier, they
halted. There was a young man, Björn Jónsson by name, with the two
clergymen, a well-educated man; to him they now, for the first time, told
their purpose, and they positively declared that they were determined to
go at once across Kaldidalr, and thence ascend Geitlands Jökull, striking
due east. His curiosity was aroused, and he agreed to go with them. They
took with them, also, a little boy, intending, if they reached a precipice
commanding the valley which they could not descend themselves, to let the
boy down by a rope, that he might examine the place. They had with them a
tent, and provisions for several days.
“They now struck due east, and kept their eyes fixed on a point where they
thought they could discern a black ridge of mountains on the north side of
the Jökull, and a hollow on the south. Till they reached the glacier, they
met with no obstacle except a stony ridge of hills, which stretches all
the way from the glaciers in the east, and crosses Kaldidalr in a northern
direction. On the north side of this ridge was a heap of snow, and a small
lake, formed by the water from the glaciers. Apparently, the horses could
not descend; but Björn pushed his horse down a narrow pass, into a small
river, flowing below the rocks. The river is very deep, but is full of
soft mud, and sluggish. From the eastern bank of it, towards the glacier,
is a sandy, muddy plain; here they saw a raven flying from the north side
of the glacier towards Ok. It did not make any noise, but seemed to be
rather startled by the sight of human beings in that solitude. After a
while they lost sight of it and saw it no more. They crossed the sandy
plain towards the glacier, and scrambled up a spur of loose shingle, till
they reached a river that burst out from beneath the ice. There the
glacier became very steep, and they did not see how to take their horses
farther, as on all sides were seracs of ice, and fissures and crevasses of
immense depth. Then Björn made a vow that he would take his horse, named
Skoli, over the glacier, and not leave the ice-mountain except on the
eastern side, provided this was not contrary to the will of God. Then
Helgi made a vow that if he met with any human beings, male or female, in
Thorir’s dale, he would endeavour to Christianise them; and Björn promised
to assist him in this to the best of his power. And they agreed to baptize
immediately all the people in the valley who might be willing to embrace
Christianity. They thought it prudent to leave behind them one of their
horses, their baggage and the tent, at a rock near the river. On this rock
they piled up three cairns as evidence that they had been there; and
there, also, they left the boy in charge of the horse, with strict orders
not to stir till their return, which would be in the night or on the
following day. They took with them a bottle of corn-brandy, remarking that
the men of Aradalr would probably be quite ignorant of its properties.
They took no weapons, except small knives, and each had a spiked staff, to
assist him in climbing the ice. Both the clergymen and Björn Jónsson rode
all the way over the glacier, and on its northern side ascended a strip of
rubble as far as they could. Then they pushed the horses down on a
snowdrift, above the course of the river and the ravine through which it
flowed. This snow-bed extended over the glacier an almost interminable way
due south, or perhaps a little south-west. The crust was sufficiently hard
to bear up the horses. Where the glacier began to rise again, it was
entirely free from snow and ice, full of drifts and chasms in a direction
from north to south, and as they were bearing to the east they had to
cross every one of them. Most were filled with water which overflowed the
glacier, and disappeared in the snowdrift, and in some places they rode
through the water on the ice. None of these rifts were too broad to be
crossed in one place or another, either higher up the glacier towards the
south, or at its lower and north end. If they had met with a rift which
they could not pass, they intended to have made a snow-bridge over it,
rather than return. In this way they crossed the ice of the glacier. Next
came another bed of snow, over which they rode for some while; but it was
very heavy, as the day was exceedingly warm and mild.
“When they were within a short distance of what seemed to them to be the
highest point of the glacier on the east, a mist set in on both sides from
the north and south, leaving a clear space towards the east, so that they
could see the bright sky exactly opposite their faces; and the reason of
this was that the mountains rose on either side, leaving a sort of
depression between them, along which they were going as they held on due
east. This was not discouraging, as it showed that the mountain peaks
caught the mist, and left the lower ground clear. At the same time, they
heard the rush of water beneath their feet without being able to see the
stream. The noise indicated a volume much larger than that which they had
seen pouring through the ravine, and they conjectured that the sub-glacial
river divided into several streams before discharging itself.
“They now passed from the snow to a gravelly soil, devoid of grass. It was
a smooth ridge of sandstone, like the bank of a mountain torrent. The
glaciers now sloped towards the north-east, whilst some tended towards the
east; but right across the glaciers there lay a hollow trough, and in many
places along the edge black rocks shot out of the snow. On the north side
were lofty and craggy fells, connected by snowdrifts and strips of shale;
and the glacier range rose considerably on the north side.
“The party followed the sandstone ridge till it terminated abruptly in a
precipice with ledges. Then they climbed a height, and looked about them.
On the east of the glaciers they saw distinctly a desert track, not
covered with snow, which they conjectured lay in a straight line north of
Biskupstungur sands. East of the glacier were two brown fells; that which
was most to the south was not large, and it had a castellated appearance,
whilst the other was oblong, stretching from north to south, and full of
snowdrifts. From the same height they saw a great valley, long and narrow,
running in a semicircle. At the end were heaps of shingle, precipices, and
ravines. The valley began about the middle of the glacier, and ran
north-east; then bent towards the east, and finally turned south. Towards
the east the glacier became lower, and in the same proportion as the
mountain ranges fell, did the valley become shallower; but it seemed
nowhere to dive to the very bottom of the mountains. Towards the higher
end of the valley, the glacier hemmed it in with steep sides. Where the
valley was deepest, the mountain slopes were bare and weather-beaten,
consisting of swarthy or brown terraces and hollows, having a colour like
that of the fell close to the southern extremity of Geitland.[23]
“In some places there were dry watercourses. It was so far to the bottom
of the valley that the explorers could not discover exactly whether there
was not grass on one of the slopes; but possibly the hue was the peculiar
colour of the sandstone. Anyhow, they could not discover green pasturage.
At the bottom of the valley were sandy flats, and in some places
avalanches had fallen from the glaciers, and strewn the ground with blocks
of ice and other débris. The slopes were very uneven. No water or
waterfalls were to be seen, except two pools glittering towards the south,
where the valley became shallow, and where it spread into gravelly plains,
with the glacier sliding almost to the bottom of the vale on both sides.
At the north-east bend of the valley were two small bare hills, beneath
which the explorers thought they perceived two grassy plains on both sides
of a watercourse. Neither hot spring, wood, heather, nor grass, beside
these patches, were visible anywhere.” In one point the account of these
men differs from that in the _Gretla_, for there it is stated that the
valley was narrow, and covered with grass; but possibly the ice has
encroached on the turf and destroyed it.
“The clergymen having erected a pile of stones in memorial of their visit,
they went towards an immense rifted rock at the higher extremity of the
valley, and there discovered a cave, with an opening towards the north,
and looking down the valley. There was another opening, like a window,
into the cavern, commanding the east. The door was exactly square, and
just opposite it was a big square stone. This, as well as the cave, was of
sandstone. This was the only block of stone thereabouts. The clergymen
found that they were half the height of the cave; so that it must have
been from ten to twelve feet high. The window on the east was oblong, and
they conjectured that it had been made by the wind and rain, though it had
possibly been the work of former inhabitants of the cave. The explorers
supposed that the slab opposite the door had been thrown down from above,
and that there had originally existed no door, except the rift they first
discovered. The rift faces the west, and to enter the cave one must climb
several ledges in the rock. This cavern is sufficiently extensive to hold
a couple of hundred persons. Its floor is of sand, and it is well lighted
through the window. They did not find any antiquities; but they supposed
this to have been the cave occupied by Thorir and his daughters.
“The men cut their initials on the rocks; Björn cut B. S. on that opposite
the door, and Helgi cut a single H. on the eastern wall of the cave, just
below the window. Björn Jónsson cut his opposite, but Helgi’s was the
deepest engraved, and will stand longest. When they had finished this,
they sat down and took some refreshments, and remarked, as they drank
their brandy, that this was in all probability the first time that the
smell of brandy had been snuffed in that place.
“It was now getting late; however, they ascended a mountain peak, on the
west side of the cave, and separate from it by a sweep of snow, and this
peak they believed to be visible from Kaldidalr; it was very steep and
difficult to climb, so they rested twice on their way. They went up on
different sides as the clink-stone rolled away beneath their feet on
those behind. Björn, the priest, was the first to attack the peak, but
Helgi reached the summit first, and found it so sharp at the top as to
afford hardly enough standing-ground for the three. They heaped a cairn on
the top and put in it a flat stone, which they placed in a vertical
position, and made fast with other stones. In it is a small rift; and they
arranged it so that, by placing the eye at this rift, it looks eastward,
through the door of the cave.
“The party then returned the same way that they had come, and parted in
the morning in the middle of Kaldidalr, Björn going southward, and Helgi
towards the north.”
We think that the clergymen were mistaken in supposing that this
clink-stone cone is visible from Kaldidalr, for we saw no appearance of
it. From Skjaldbreid a peak is distinguishable, however, but more to the
south-west than that described by the priests.
Apparently, three ways of entering the mysterious vale present themselves,
that which we ourselves intended being impracticable. One is to follow the
route of the bold explorers, Björn and Helgi; a second is to camp the
horses at Hlitharvellir, grassy plains between Skjaldbreid and Hlothufell,
and to follow the stream that issues from the glacier ravine into the
recesses of the Jökull. A third course, and that which we expect would
prove the easiest, though the least interesting, would be to encamp on
the grass-land round the lake Hvitarvatn, to the east of the Jökull, where
the mountains are lower, and the existence of a large sheet of water, from
which issues a considerable river--the Hvitá--points to this being a place
to which the drainage of a very considerable portion of the glacier
converges.
It is not a little remarkable that the huge extent of Lang Jökull feeds
scarcely any other rivers. It is true that the Nordlinga fljot, another
Hvitá and Asbrandsá, have their sources under the Lang Jökull, but they
are only small streams, whereas the Hvitá bursts out of its lake a wide
and deep river; and we think that this is accounted for by the presence of
a depression towards the interior of the range which gathers the drainage
from the surrounding glaciers, and then pours the flood in a sub-glacial
torrent into the lake. The opening to this valley we suppose to be blocked
above the lake by the glaciers from Hrutafell and Blàfell’s Jökull, which
meet and overlap.