Iceland - Landscape
View allAll Photos Tagged iceland
Goðafoss is a waterfall in northern Iceland. It is located along the country's main ring road at the junction with the Sprengisandur highland road, about 45 minutes from Akureyri, Iceland's second largest city. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 metres over a width of 30 metres. A 1.8-mile hiking trail loops around the waterfall area
The origin of the waterfall's name is not completely clear. In modern Icelandic, the name can be read either as "waterfall of the goĂ° (pagan idols)" or "waterfall of the goĂ°i (chieftain)." Linguist and placename expert Svavar Sigmundsson suggests that the name derives from two crags at the falls which resemble pagan idols. In 1879-1882, a myth was published in Denmark according to which the waterfall was named when the lawspeaker Ăžorgeir LjĂłsvetningagoĂ°i made Christianity the official religion of Iceland in the year 999 or 1000. Upon returning home from the AlĂľingi, Ăžorgeir supposedly threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall. However, although the story of Ăžorgeir's role in the adoption of Christianity in Iceland is preserved in Ari Ăžorgilsson's ĂŤslendingabĂłk, no mention is made of Ăžorgeir throwing his idols into GoĂ°afoss. The legend appears to be a nineteenth-century fabrication. Nevertheless, a window in Akureyrarkirkja, the main church at Akureyri, illustrates this story.
MS GoĂ°afoss, an Icelandic ship named after the waterfall, used to transport both freight and passengers. It was sunk by a German U-Boat in World War II, resulting in great loss of life.
In 2020, the waterfall was granted protected status.
INES VAN MEGEN-THIJSSEN PHOTOGRAPHY
website I facebook I 500px | Instagram | werk aan de muur
All images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without the written explicit permission of the photographer.