Page 38 - 2000 ICELAND

potential disaster. His proposal involved each Icelander consenting to be
baptized in the Christian manner but that each be allowed to keep whatever

pagan traditions he wished to keep. As a show that he had decided on
Christianity himself, he threw all his household statues of the pagan gods

into this waterfall—thus its name.

This was a pretty wild setting even though
the Ring Road around the periphery of the

island is very near it. There were huge lava

formations, grand river gorges, and great
crashing waters.

SPRENGISANDUR

Then it was off for a long ride through the

magnificent “Sprengisandur”—the high desert interior where the roads are
gravel and there are streams and rivers to ford. This was rather exciting at

times since the waters can run pretty swift and deep. But Magnus is a
wonderful and very experienced driver (something like 30 years driving the

island) so we were in excellent hands.

We stopped for a lunch at a typically barren

place that was no different from all the other
emptiness around us, behind and before us.

Oskar often used these longer rides as
occasions to tell us stories from the Icelandic

sagas—thoroughly enjoyable, highly
adventurous, full of amorous stories, revenge

tales, supernatural interventions in human

events, swashbuckling sword play, and bloody warfare. He recommended a
couple of the sagas for private reading and we bought them to enjoy here at

home.

He also used the bus rides for sharing information about the country’s non-
saga history, its social fabric, and its unique genealogy. All current native