Rekjavik - Day 6 - Thingvellir Nat’l Prk

So day six was chocked full of sightseeing. The overall tour is called the Golden Circle Tour, the final leg are the baths at the Blue Lagoon. In between are a lot of items. Due to the limitation for pictures in a single footprint, we’re are going to break this day into multiple sections, this one is dedicated to Thingvellir National Park.

Thingvellir National Park is hallowed ground where Icelandic forbearers found the oldest parliament and commonwealth in 930. It remained the gathering place for assemblies from 930 to 1798. After the settling of Iceland starting in 870, the country became a collection of different entities headed by their own Chieftains. Eventually there would be 13 and the country grew to be somewhat unruly. Recognizing the fact that they needed some sort of common understanding, the gathered in Thingvellir and created their parliament.

When the parliament was in session in the high summer during the first centuries of its existence Thingvellir turned into a carnival where people from all over the country would dance, drink, trade, gossip, eat and be merry in every way. Except of course when they were fighting. Many young people would find their life partners at this gathering. It is well documented that people would do whatever they could to get to Thingvellir and to the 13 regional parliaments which were held during spring and autumn. After all, Iceland was a rural society with bad communications where you spend long winters holed up with just a few familiar faces. Meeting new people and getting drunk with them seemed to be just the ticket.

17 days long trip to go to the party of the year? No problem

Never mind you had to spend up to 17 days traveling on horseback or on foot to get to the festivities. The time to get there could be shorter based on location from Thingvellir and of course the weather. This venue for the highest parliament in the land was selected to be as central as possible. Its southern location ensured good weather. The river running next to it was diverted for easy access to fresh water and the fields were perfect for camping and grazing horses.

THE POOL OF SHAME AND SORROW

There were 70 – 80 executions in Thingvellir from the 17th century onwards. Of those, there are recorded 15 hangings, 30 beheadings, and 18 women who were drowned in the so-called “Drowning Pool” which was where the bridge across the river is now. It is the only place of execution which is marked by a memorial plaque but there are also places at Thingvellir with self-explanatory names such as Gallows Rock (Gálgaklettur), Scaffold beach (Gálgaeyri), and Burning gap (Brennugjá). The treatment of the innocent and often abused women executed at Thingvellir is truly a stain on Icelandic history.

Thingvellir is also where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Tectonic Plate Boundary (scientists call this type of plate a divergent boundary) of North American and Europe are slowing moving apart.

Plate Tectonics explains what happens as the North American and Eurasian Plates pull away from each other; new crust is formed from erupted magma along either side of the ridge. As with other divergent boundaries, eventually a rift forms. When this occurs, the Icelandic land mass is going to separate, with water from the Atlantic Ocean filling in this widening gap and splitting the country in two. (There is a picture of the divide below)

Live Science describes the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as a volcanic seam thousands of miles long where tectonic plates meet. At multiple points, magma erupts from deep inside the Earth and creates new crust, pushing the tectonic plates apart. All such volcanic seams are at the bottom of the ocean except for the portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge present in Iceland, the only place where it can be seen on land.

Iceland offers scientists a unique opportunity to research the processes that occur on submerged mid-ocean ridges. The ridge also provides a natural laboratory for the study of plate tectonics and geothermal energy.

Thingvellir is also features Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.Läs mer