Öxarárfoss in Þingvellir National Park, Iceland.. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, was established at Þingvellir in 930, and held its sessions there until 1798, with memebers travelling for days to attend meetings. Game of Thrones fans may know that Öxarárfoss was an on-set location for Game of Thrones, as the approach to the Eyrie.

The protesters are gone for now,but they´ll be back if we have no change and the old useless politicians reappear.

  

At Þingvellir - literally "Parliament Plains" - the Alþing general assembly was established around 930 and continued to convene there until 1798. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Þingvellir and therefore the place is held in high esteem by all Icelanders. Today Þingvellir is a protected national shrine. According to the law, passed in 1928, the protected area shall always be the property of the Icelandic nation, under the preservation of the Alþing. Þingvellir is notable for its unusual tectonic and volcanic environment in a rift valley.

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park in Iceland, east of Reykjavík. It's known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland's parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. On the site are the Þingvellir Church and the ruins of old stone shelters. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, with rocky cliffs and fissures like the huge Almannagjá fault seen on the left.

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BRUSSELS AIRLINES [ SN | BEL | DAT | Beeline ]

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AIRBUS | A320-214 - CN 1797 | OO-SNC

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232 527 passiert mit einem Schwellenzug aus Coswig (b Dre) auf dem Güterzuggleis die Ortschaft Leipzig-Althen

The Alþingi (Icelandic for 'general meeting' and anglicised as Althingi or Althing) is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at Þingvellir ('thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of what later became the country's capital, Reykjavík.

 

After Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing lost its legislative power, which was not restored until 1903 when Iceland gained Home Rule from Denmark. For 641 years, the Althing did not serve as the parliament of Iceland, ultimately power rested with the Norwegian, and subsequently the Danish throne.

 

Even after Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1800, when it was discontinued. It was restored in 1844 by royal decree and moved to Reykjavík. The restored unicameral legislature first came together in 1845 and after 1874 operated in two chambers with an additional third chamber taking on a greater role as the decades passed until 1991 when Althing became once again unicameral.

 

The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, made of hewn Icelandic stone. The unicameral parliament has 63 members, and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation. The current speaker of the Althing is Birgir Ármannsson. From Wikipedia with a few edits.

D-ALTH A320 LTU

Þingvellir is notable for its unusual tectonic and volcanic environment in a rift valley.

Having read a few of the the old Norse Sagas as a teenager The Law Rock or Althing is for me a place where history, myth and legend meet.

Öxarárfoss waterfall in Þingvellir National Park, Iceland. The river Öxará falls over the crest of the Almannagjá gorge into a rift valley and the home of Icelandic Parliament, the Althing or Alþingi in Icelandic.

 

Founded in 930 - the Althing stands as a beacon - in the narcissistic twitterverse - of democracy and the rule of law.

 

The mid-Atlantic ridge and plate boundary should also serve as a reminder that we are less than mould on the pizza crust of time.

 

The waterfall is one of the main attractions of Þingvellir National Park and I would have been sharing the wooden viewing platform with about 50 odd members of the nomadic, Selfie Stick Warrior tribe...

 

Anyway, the light was nice :-)

 

West Iceland (Vesturland), September 2017.

 

Fuji X-T2, XF23/1.4, 1/12th sec at f/16, ISO 100

Thingvellir, la grieta donde se separan Europa y América (las placas continentales). También es el sitio del primer parlamento islandés, allá por el siglo X

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park in Iceland, east of Reykjavík. It's known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland's parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. On the site are the Þingvellir Church and the ruins of old stone shelters. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, with rocky cliffs and fissures like the huge Almannagjá fault

Þingvellir is notable for its unusual tectonic and volcanic environment in a rift valley.

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Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is part of the rift valley where the Eurasian and North American plates are pulling apart from each other by about 2 cm per year. It is one of the rare places on Earth where a so-called 'spreading centre' is exposed above sea level. The Öxará flows through Thingvellir into the rift valley lake Þingvallavatn (Thingvallavatn). Þingvellir is also the location of Iceland's first parliament, the Alþingi (Althing), said to be the world's first.

• Þingvellir ist eine in der Nähe liegende Thingstätte. Norwegische Wikinger hielten bereits um 930 einmal jährlich während zwei Wochen im Juni die traditionelle Versammlung Althing ab.

• Þingvellir is a nearby thing place. As early as 930, Norwegian Vikings held the traditional Althing assembly once a year for two weeks in June.

Þingvellir, Ísland

 

Iceland is a volcanic island straddling the boundary between the Eurasian and North America tectonic plates. These plates have been pulling apart for the past 130 million years, in the process creating the Atlantic Ocean. The seam between the plates is the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which comes ashore in southwestern Iceland and runs through Thingvellir National Park.

 

We are standing among fault scarps on the western edge of Thingvellir, looking southeast towards the lake Thingvallavatn.

 

The name Thingvellir (Icelandic Þingvellir) means assembly fields. The Icelandic parliament, the Althing, met here from 930 until 1798.

www.fodors.com/world/europe/iceland/review-151685.html

    

Alþingishús (Parliament House) Review

Built in 1880-81, this structure is one of the country's oldest stone buildings. Iceland's Alþingi held its first session in AD 930 and therefore can lay claim to being the oldest representative parliament in the world. You can view the parliament proceedings from the visitor's gallery here. Depending on the urgency of the agenda, any number of Iceland's 63 members of parliament, from five political parties, may be present.

 

Þingvellir is now a national park in the municipality of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km northeast of Iceland's capital, Reykjavík. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

 

Þingvellir National Park (þjóðgarðurinn á Þingvöllum) was founded in 1930, marking the 1000th anniversary of the Althing. The park was later expanded to protect the diverse and natural phenomena in the surrounding area, and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2004.

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is the National Park where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Over two weeks a year, the assembly set laws - seen as a covenant between free men - and settled disputes. The Althing has deep historical and symbolic associations for the people of Iceland. The property includes the Þingvellir National Park and the remains of the Althing itself: fragments of around 50 booths built from turf and stone. Remains from the 10th century are thought to be buried underground. The site also includes remains of agricultural use from the 18th and 19th centuries. The park shows evidence of the way the landscape was husbanded over 1,000 years.

 

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I was originally enrolled into the GETTY IMAGES collection as a contributor on April 9th 2012, and when links with FLICKR were terminated in March 2014, I was retained and fortunate enough to be signed up via a second contract, both of which have proved to be successful with sales of my photographs all over the world now handled exclusively by them.

    

On November 12th 2015 GETTY IMAGES unveiled plans for a new stills upload platform called ESP (Enterprise Submission Platform), to replace the existing 'Moment portal', and on November 13th I was invited to Beta test the new system prior to it being officially rolled out in December. ESP went live on Tuesday December 15th 2015 and has smoothed out the upload process considerably.

  

These days I take a far more leisurely approach to my photographic exploits, a Nikon D850 FX Pro body as my trusted companion, I travel light with less constraints and more emphasis on the pure capture of the beauty that I see, more akin to my original persuits and goals some five decades previously when starting out. I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 32.599+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

  

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**** This frame was chosen on August 9th 2019 to appear on FLICKR EXPLORE (Highest Ranking: #33. This is my 139th photograph to be selected, which for me is both amazing and exciting, as I never view my images as worthy compared to some of the awesome photography out there. EXPLORE is Flickr's way of showcasing the most interesting photos within a given point in time -- usually over a 24 hour period.

 

Flickr receives about 6,000 uploads every minute -- That's about 8.6 million photos a day! From this huge group of images, the Flickr Interestingness algorithm chooses only 500 images to showcase for each 24-hour period. That's only one image in every 17,000!..... so I am really thrilled to have a frame picked and most grateful to every one of the 32.615+ Million people who have visited, favourite and commented on this and all of my other photographs here on my FLICKR site. *****

  

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Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and forty seven metres at 15:23pm on Thursday 8th November 2018, off Þingvallavegur 36 in the Thingvellir National Park looking over towards Þingvellir church in Þingvallakirkja, Southern Iceland.

  

This is the location where the Alþing (Althing) parliamentary general assembly met between 930 CE and 1798. It has been home to a church for over One thousand years.

The church seen here, dates back to 1859.

  

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Nikon D850 Focal length 70mm. Hand held with Nikkor VR vibration reduction enabled on Normal setting. Shutter speed 1/40s Aperture f/13.0 iso100 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Colour space. Adobe RGB. AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto 0 white balance (8030K). Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal.

  

Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Phot-R ultra slim 77mm UV filter. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.

  

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LATITUDE: N 64d 15m 19.40s

LONGITUDE: W 21d 7m 41.30s

ALTITUDE: 147.0m

  

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RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 92.0MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 33.30MB

  

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PROCESSING POWER:

 

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.01 (16/01/2018) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18)

 

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB DATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Blick von der Aussichtsplattform auf die Ebene. Links im Bild die Kirche Pingvallakirkja, rechts der Bildmitte der See Þingvallavatn. Hier wurde 930 der Isländische Freistaat ausgerufen, und hier wurde jährlich für mehrere Wochen Rat gehalten und Recht gesprochen.

Þingvellir, Island.

 

Our May 8th flight began with a wing salute to the Front Range of the Rockies, headed north and east over the land of a thousand lakes, over Hudson Bay, past the shelf of Greenland, and 6 hours later, landed on the SW edge of Iceland. After refueling with coffee and pastry at a hip Reykjavík Kaffi, we began our journey around Iceland at Þingvellir National Park and World Heritage Site. Þingvellir is truly the site of nation building, both geographically and culturally. Located in a rift valley at the crest of the mid-Atlantic Ridge where the American and Eurasian continental plates are drifting apart at the rate of 8mm./year, Þingvellir marks the site where in 930 A.D. early settlers gathered in assembly and formed the Icelandic Parliament (Althing), with people coming from all over Iceland to participate annually through 1798, when the Althing moved to Reykjavík.

 

Trying to make sense of a new landscape, in this large view we see the Almannagjá , or All Men’s Gorge, into which all the first Althing participants allegedly fit, winding down to the valley. The river Öxará flows through and was rerouted to provide a water supply for the assemblies. Þingvellir lies on the northern shore of the rift valley lake Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland with a depth of 374 ft. The shield volcano Skjaldbreiður looms in the background.

 

We didn’t know it then, but this first stop included many elements we would see throughout Iceland: sweeping views, volcanic geology, beautiful waterfalls, thermal hydrology, sun, snow, glaciers and ice sheets, and tourists making selfies.

  

Schon vor tausend Jahren stand hier eine Kirche, die den Besuchern des Alþingi für ihre Gottesdienste zur Verfügung stand. Die Kirche, welche man heute betreten kann, datiert auf das Jahr 1859. Direkt nebenan befindet sich ein kleiner Friedhof auf dem nur eine Handvoll Menschen ihre letzte Ruhe fanden. Ganz in der Nähe wurde auch Gericht gehalten und wurden die Todesurteile vollstreckt.

Das Alþingi (Althing) ist das Parlament Islands. Es folgt seit 1991 dem Einkammersystem. Das Althing geht bis ins Jahr 930 zurück und ist damit nach dem färöischen Løgting, dessen Ursprünge in das Jahr 900 zurückreichen, das zweitälteste bestehende Parlament der Welt bzw. das älteste eines unabhängigen Staats.

www.island-ringstrasse.de/thingvellir-nationalpark-island/

Already a thousand years ago there was a church here which was at the disposal of the Alþingi visitors for their services. The church, which can be entered today, dates back to 1859. Right next door there is a small cemetery where only a handful of people found their last rest. Nearby, courts were held and the death sentences were carried out.

The Alþingi (Althing) is the parliament of Iceland. It has followed the unicameral system since 1991. The Althing dates back to the year 930, making it the second oldest existing parliament in the world or the oldest independent state after the Faroese Løgting, whose origins date back to the year 900.

Þingvellir is a place in Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, near the peninsula of Reykjanes and the Hengill volcanic area. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It is the site of a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. (...) Parliament or Alþingi was established at Þingvellir in 930 and remained there until 1789. Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 to protect the remains of the parliament site and was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area. Þingvellir National Park was the first national park in Iceland and was decreed "a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged."

 

According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island. Over the next centuries, people of Norse and Celtic origin settled in Iceland. Early on, district assemblies were formed, but as the population grew there was a need for a general assembly. The descendants of Ingólfur Arnarson who dominated the region of southwest Iceland had become the most powerful family in the country, and other chieftains felt a need for a general assembly to limit their power. Grímur Geitskör was allotted the role of rallying support and finding a suitable location for the assembly. At about the same time, the owner of Bláskógar (then name for the Þingvellir region) was found guilty of murder and his land was declared public and obligated to be used for assembly proceedings, the building of temporary dwellings, the use of the forest for kindling and the grazing of horses. The Þingvellir region was chosen for this reason and the accessibility from the most populous regions of the North, South and West. The farthest distance a goði (chieftain) had to travel was 17 days traveling from the easternmost part of the country where mountains and glacial rivers proved bothersome obstacles. The foundation of the Icelandic parliament is said to be the founding of the nation of Iceland, and the first parliamentary proceedings in the summer of 930 laid ground for a common cultural heritage and national identity. Þingvellir played a central role in the history of the country, and its history runs almost parallel with the history of the Icelandic Commonwealth.

 

The Alþingi (assembly) at Þingvellir was Iceland's supreme legislative and judicial authority from its establishment in 930 until 1271. The Lögberg (Law Rock) was the focal point of the Alþingi and a natural platform for holding speeches. The Lawspeaker, elected for three years at a time, presided over the assembly and recited the law of the land. Before the law was written down, he was expected to recite it from memory on the Lögberg over the course of three summers along with the complete assembly procedures every summer. Inauguration and dissolution of the assembly took place at the Lögberg, where rulings made by the Law Council were announced, the calendar was confirmed, legal actions were brought and other announcements made which concerned the entire nation. Anyone attending the assembly was entitled to present his case on important issues from the Lögberg. The Law Council served as both a parliament and supreme court. Laws were passed and approved there, and rulings made on points of Law. The Law Council appointed members of the Fifth Court (a kind of appellate court), appointed the Lawspeaker, and took part in the election of the bishop. Unlike the Alþingi, the Law Council was a closed body in which only certain people enjoyed full rights: chieftains who held the office of "goði", their "Þingmen" and later also bishops. However, everyone at the assembly was entitled to watch and listen to the Law Council at work. From the earliest times until the 15th century, the Law Council met at Neðri-Vellir on the east bank of Öxará, but when the river changed its course around 1500, the council was moved to an islet in it. In 1594, the Law Council was relocated to the foot of the ancient Law Rock, where it remained until the Alþingi was finally transferred from it in 1798. The Alþingi was Iceland's legislative and chief judicial authority for the duration of the Commonwealth, until 1271. Executive power was in the hands of the chieftains and parties to individual cases at each time. This proved to be quite an adequate arrangement for as long as the balance of power remained, but flaws emerged when it was disrupted. The final decades of the Commonwealth were characterized by clashes between chieftain families, which resulted in Iceland becoming part of the Norwegian crown. Executive power was strengthened under this new order, while legislative and judicial authority remained in the hands of the Alþingi but was gradually transferred to the Norwegian and later Danish rulers until the King of Denmark became an absolute monarch of Iceland in 1662.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thingvellir

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park located east of Reykjavík, Iceland. It's renowned as the location of the Alþing (Althing), Iceland's parliament from the 10th to the 18th centuries. Within the park, you'll find the Þingvellir Church and the remains of ancient stone shelters. This national park is situated in a rift valley formed by the separation of two tectonic plates, featuring rugged cliffs and crevices, including the impressive Almannagjá fault. This photograph was taken in the national park near the Öxarárfoss (Öxará River Waterfall)

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I was originally enrolled into the GETTY IMAGES collection as a contributor on April 9th 2012, and when links with FLICKR were terminated in March 2014, I was retained and fortunate enough to be signed up via a second contract, both of which have proved to be successful with sales of my photographs all over the world now handled exclusively by them.

    

On November 12th 2015 GETTY IMAGES unveiled plans for a new stills upload platform called ESP (Enterprise Submission Platform), to replace the existing 'Moment portal', and on November 13th I was invited to Beta test the new system prior to it being officially rolled out in December. ESP went live on Tuesday December 15th 2015 and has smoothed out the upload process considerably.

  

These days I take a far more leisurely approach to my photographic exploits, a Nikon D850 FX Pro body as my trusted companion, I travel light with less constraints and more emphasis on the pure capture of the beauty that I see, more akin to my original persuits and goals some five decades previously when starting out. I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 31.762+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

  

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on December 16th 2018

  

CREATIVE RF gty.im/1081892418 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**

  

This photograph became my 3,571st frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

  

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**** This frame was chosen on June 23rd 2019 to appear on FLICKR EXPLORE (Highest Ranking: #267. This is my 130th photograph to be selected, which for me is both amazing and exciting, as I never view my images as worthy compared to some of the awesome photography out there. EXPLORE is Flickr's way of showcasing the most interesting photos within a given point in time -- usually over a 24 hour period.

 

Flickr receives about 6,000 uploads every minute -- That's about 8.6 million photos a day! From this huge group of images, the Flickr Interestingness algorithm chooses only 500 images to showcase for each 24-hour period. That's only one image in every 17,000!..... so I am really thrilled to have a frame picked and most grateful to every one of the 31.900+ Million people who have visited, favourite and commented on this and all of my other photographs here on my FLICKR site. *****

  

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Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and forty seven metres at 15:39pm on Thursday 8th November 2018, off Þingvallavegur 36 in the Þingvellir National Park (Thingvellir National Park) in Iceland. Situated East of Reykjavik, this is the location where the Alþing (Althing) parliamentary general assembly met between 930 CE and 1798. It has been home to a church for over One thousand years.

The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates with cliffs and fissures such as the Almannagjá fault.

  

Here we are looking over a body of water known as Þingvallavatn (Þingvallavatn lake). The lake has a surface area of 84 km² and a depth of 114m and lies partially with the national park.The only outflow from lake Þingvallavatn is the river Sog.

 

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Nikon D850 Focal length 95mm. Hand held with Nikkor VR vibration reduction enabled on Normal setting. Shutter speed 1/160s Aperture f/14.0 iso100 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Colour space. Adobe RGB. AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto 0 white balance (8030K). Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal.

  

Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Phot-R ultra slim 77mm UV filter. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.

  

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LATITUDE: N 64d 15m 19.40s

LONGITUDE: W 21d 7m 43.80s

ALTITUDE: 147.0m

  

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RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 90.0MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 21.30MB

  

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PROCESSING POWER:

 

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.01 (16/01/2018) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18)

 

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB DATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

“LEIFR EIRICSSON SON OF ICELAND DISCOVERER OF VINLAND

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE PEOPE OF ICELAND ON THE ONE THOUSANDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALTHING AD 1930”

Takn near the site of the world's first parliament, the Althing.

 

Geologically interesting for being in the zone between two tectonic plates. This photo looks towards a cliff that is technically part of the oceanic crust attached to North America. The rest of the photo is in a kind of geological no-mans-land between America and Europe.

 

Þingvellir is a world heritage site.

Þingvellir area is on the tectonic plate boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the faults and fissures of the area bear evidence to the rifting of the earth's crust. Nikulásargjá (Nicholas´s fault) is a part of the fault system, filled with crystal clear water up to 25m deep.

 

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park is where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Over two weeks a year, the assembly set laws - seen as a covenant between free men - and settled disputes. (whc.unesco.org/en/list/1152)

Þjóðhildarkirkja (Thjodhild's church) in Brattahlíð, south-west Greenland.

 

Brattahlíð (the name means "the steep slope") was Erik the Red's estate in the Eastern Settlement Viking colony he established in south-western Greenland toward the end of the 10th century. The present settlement of Qassiarsuk is now located in its place. The site is located about 96 km (60 mi) from the ocean, at the head of the Tunulliarfik Fjord (Eriksfjord), and hence sheltered from ocean storms. Erik and his descendants lived there until about the mid-15th century.

Brattahlíð hosted the first Greenlandic Þing (parliament), based on the Icelandic Althing.

 

Erik the Red was the first permanent European settler in Greenland. In 982, Erik, outlawed for three years from Iceland, sailed to a mysterious western land. He rounded the southern tip of the island (later known as Cape Farewell) and sailed up the western coast. He eventually reached a part of the coast that, for the most part, seemed ice-free and consequently had conditions—similar to those of Iceland—that promised growth and future prosperity (at that time temperatures were milder and glaciers much more retreated inland). According to the Saga of Erik the Red, he spent his three years of exile exploring this land.

 

When Erik returned to Iceland after his exile had expired, he is said to have brought with him stories of "Greenland". Erik deliberately gave the land an appealing name in order to lure potential settlers. His salesmanship proved successful, as many people became convinced that Greenland held great opportunity.

After spending the winter in Iceland, Erik returned to Greenland in 985 with a large number of colonists. The Icelanders established two colonies on the southwest coast: the Eastern Settlement or Eystribyggð, and the Western Settlement or Vestribyggð, close to present-day Nuuk, further north. The Eastern and Western Settlements, both established on the southwest coast, proved the only areas suitable for farming.

 

In Eystribyggð or Eastern Settlement, Erik built the estate of Brattahlíð. He held the title of paramount chieftain of Greenland and became both greatly respected and wealthy.

The settlement flourished, growing to 5000 inhabitants spread over a considerable area along Eriksfjord and neighboring fjords. Groups of immigrants escaping overcrowding in Iceland joined the original party. As the Western settlement, the colony thrived and survived until the Little Ice Age made the land marginal for European life-styles in the 15th century (shortly before Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in 1492).

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Þingvellir (or Thingvellir in English) is a place in the southwestern of Iceland, It lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is at the northern end of Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

 

The continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates can be clearly seen in the cracks or faults which traverse the region. Every year the cracks between the plates get wider. This also causes the often measurable earthquakes in the area.

 

Alþingi (Althing in English), the Icelandic Parliament, was established at Þingvellir in 930, and remained there until 1798.

 

When we visited this beautiful national park this April, it was raining. Still it was possible to get a few proper photos when it stopped raining for a few minutes!

  

Details

Nikon D90 / Nikor 18-105 VR / ISO 100 / f/4.5 / 18.0 - 105.0 @ 35mm

The F52 or Uxahryggivegur as it was a decade ago, winding its way past the little knoll of Meyjarsæti and the Hofmannaflöt. North of Þingvellir South Iceland.

 

A two frame stitch-pano re-imagining of the frame.

 

I read or was told that the young maidens of Iceland would gather here to watch the young men engage in various Icelandic 'sports' on the flat ground to the left... seems likely :-)

 

Fuji X-t1, Fuji XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4, 1/13th sec at f/8, ISO 400

Mid-Atlantic Ridge / Rift Valley - Thingvellir National Park - Iceland

Þingvellir, anglicised as Thingvellir, is a national park in the municipality of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km northeast of Iceland's capital, Reykjavík. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

Þingvellir is associated with the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, which was established at the site in 930 AD. Sessions were held at the location until 1798.

Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930, marking the one-thousandth anniversary of the Althing. The park was later expanded to protect the diverse and natural phenomena in the surrounding area and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2004.

The name Þingvellir is derived from the Old Norse Þingvǫllr, from þing (“thing, assembly”) and vǫllr (“field”), meaning assembly fields. Compare the English thing and weald (“Thingweald”) from Anglo-Saxon þing and weald. The site takes its name from Alþing (Althing), the national parliament of Iceland, which was founded at Þingvellir in 930 and held its sessions there until 1798. A thing was a form of governing assembly found in Germanic societies and a tradition that endures to this day in one form or another across Northern Europe,

The continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates can be clearly seen in the cracks or faults which traverse the region, the largest one, Almannagjá, being a veritable canyon. This also causes the often measurable earthquakes in the area.

Some of the rifts are full of clear water. One, Nikulásargjá, was bridged for the occasion of the visit of King Frederick VIII of Denmark in 1907. On this occasion, visitors began to throw coins from the bridge into the fissure, a tradition based on European legends. The bottom has become littered with sparkling coins and the rift is now better known as Peningagjá, or "coin fissure".

Þingvellir is situated on the northern shore of Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake of Iceland. Þingvellir was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site based on cultural criteria. Together with the waterfall Gullfoss and the geysers of Haukadalur, Þingvellir is part of a group of the most famous sights of Iceland, the Golden Circle.

 

This historic site and national park in Iceland is known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland's first parliament founded in 930 AD. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of the Eurasion and North American tectonic plates.

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UNESCO World Heritage Site

Þingvellir (Icelandic: About this sound ] (help·info), Thing Fields), anglicised as Thingvellir (or, mistakenly, Pingvellir, is a place in the administrative district of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, near the Reykjanes peninsula and the Hengill volcanic area. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is at the northern end of Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

 

Alþingi (Althing in English), the Icelandic Parliament, was established at Þingvellir in 930, and remained there until 1798. Þingvellir National Park (or Thingvellir National Park) was founded in 1930, marking the 1,000th anniversary of the Althing. It was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area, and became a World Heritage Site in 2004

 

Source; Wikipedia

 

Þingvellir, Iceland 20200730

 

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) - Iceland 20200730

 

Þingvellir was the site of the annual parliament of Iceland from 930AD to 1798AD when the parliament moved indoors to the Althing in Reykjavik.

 

Þingvellir is now a national park in the municipality of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km northeast of Iceland's capital, Reykjavík.

Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland.

The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.

To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

 

Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930, marking the 1000th anniversary of the Althing.

The park was later expanded to protect the diverse and natural phenomena in the surrounding area and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2004.

 

From Wikipedia.