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Drangey
Drangey () or Drang Isle is an island in the Skagafjörður fjord in northern Iceland. It is the remnant of a 700,000‑year‑old volcano, mostly made of volcanic palagonite tuff, forming a massive rock fortress. The island was first mentioned in the Icelandic classic ''Grettis saga'' as being the refuge of the outlaw Grettir, who spent his last years there with his brother Illugi and his slave Glaumur. He fled there with his two companions when enemies were seeking his life because of its high, impervious cliffs. It is described as having a flock of 80 sheep, and many birds nesting on the cliffs. In late autumn of 1031, Grettir was assassinated where he lay dying in his shed on the island. Þorbjörn Öngull and his men were the perpetrators. An old legend says that two night-prowling giants, a man and a woman, were traversing the fjord with their cow when they were surprised by the bright rays of daybreak. As a result of exposure to daylight, all three were turned into stone. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grettis Saga
''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw. Overview Grettir's saga is considered one of the Sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), which were written down in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and record stories of events that supposedly took place between the ninth and the eleventh centuries in Iceland. The manuscript of Grettir's saga was written down some time just before 1400 AD, making it a late addition to the tradition.. Introduction. ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', p. ix The author is unknown but it is believed that his story may have been based on a previous account of Grettir's life written by Sturla Þórðarson. Whoever the author was, the author shows an awareness of the Sagas of Icelanders tradition by making references to other sagas and borrowin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grettir
''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw. Overview Grettir's saga is considered one of the Sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), which were written down in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and record stories of events that supposedly took place between the ninth and the eleventh centuries in Iceland. The manuscript of Grettir's saga was written down some time just before 1400 AD, making it a late addition to the tradition.. Introduction. ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', p. ix The author is unknown but it is believed that his story may have been based on a previous account of Grettir's life written by Sturla Þórðarson. Whoever the author was, the author shows an awareness of the Sagas of Icelanders tradition by making references to other sagas and borrowin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skagafjörður
Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi Peninsula to the west. There are two municipalities in the area, Skagafjörður Municipality (approx. 4140 inhabitants) and Akrahreppur Municipality (approx. 210 inhabitants). This is one of Iceland's most prosperous agricultural regions, with widespread dairy and sheep farming in addition to the horse breeding for which the district is famed. Skagafjörður is the only county in Iceland where horses outnumber people. It is a centre for agriculture, and some fisheries are also based in the settlements of Sauðárkrókur and Hofsós. The people living in Skagafjörður have a reputation for choir singing, horsemanship, and gatherings. There are three islands in the bay: Málmey, Drangey and Lundey (Puffin Island). The bay is located in a submerged glacial valley which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between " crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned to different species chiefly on the basis of their size. The largest raven species are the common raven and the thick-billed raven. Etymology The term "raven" originally referred to the common raven (''Corvus corax''), the type species of the genus ''Corvus'', which has a larger distribution than any other species of ''Corvus'', ranging over much of the Northern Hemisphere. The modern English word ''raven'' has cognates in all other Germanic languages, including Old Norse (and subsequently modern Icelandic) and Old High German , all of which descend from Proto-Germanic . Collective nouns for a group of ravens (or at least the common raven) include "rave", "treachery", "unkindness" and "conspiracy". In practice, most people use the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanoes Of Iceland
:''The volcano system in Iceland that started activity on August 17, 2014, and ended on February 27, 2015, is Bárðarbunga.'' :''The volcano in Iceland that erupted in May 2011 is Grímsvötn.'' Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and over a hot spot. Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history. Volcanic systems and volcanic zones of Iceland Holocene volcanism in Iceland is mostly to be found in the ''Neovolcanic Zone'', comprising the Reykjanes Volcanic Belt (RVB), the West Volcanic Zone (WVZ), the Mid-Iceland Belt (MIB), the East Volcanic Zone (EVZ) and the North Volcanic Zone (NVZ). Two lateral volcanic zones play a minor role: Öræfi Volcanic Belt (ÖVB) and Snæfellsnes Volcanic Belt (SVB). Outside of the main island are the Reykjanes Ridge (RR), as part of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stormland (film)
''Stormland'' ( is, Rokland) is a 2011 Icelandic comedy film directed by Marteinn Thorsson, based on Hallgrímur Helgason's 2005 novel, ''Rokland''. Plot ''Stormland'' tells the story of Böðvar "Böddi" Steingrímsson, an anti-establishment man who hates popular culture and idolizes certain characters from Icelandic sagas. He lives in the small town of Krókur with his overprotective mother, after having spent ten years studying philosophy in Germany. A series of mishaps befalls him as he struggles to adapt to his new life. He finds his mother dead in front of the television, gets fired from his teaching job, has a fight with a local business owner, is rejected by the woman he loves, and ends up killing his brother. Cast * Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Böðvar "Böddi" Steingrímsson * Hilmir Snær Guðnason Hilmir Snær Guðnason (born 24 January 1969, in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic actor and voice actor. He is famous in his native country and has appeared in both film a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fowling
Fowling is the hunting of birds by humans, for food ( meat), feathers or any other commercially value products, or simply for leisure (" sporting") or collecting trophies. It is comparable to wildfowling, the practice of hunting waterfowls for food or sport. The term is perhaps better known in the Fens of Eastern England than elsewhere, but was certainly not confined to the Fens. The land margins of the north produced down feathers from eider duck for eiderdowns and quilted jackets without necessarily killing the birds. In the Western Isles of Scotland, seabirds were taken from their nests on cliffs. In The Fens and other similar places, a decoy was part of a landowner's well-equipped estate. The epitome of fowling was, however, the punt gunner. He had what amounted to a long, small-bore muzzle-loaded cannon. It was mounted along the centre-line of the forward half of a specially designed boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. At the spring (or vernal) equinox, days and nights are approximately twelve hours long, with daytime length increasing and nighttime length decreasing as the season progresses until the Summer Solstice in June (Northern Hemisphere) and December (Southern Hemisphere). Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Cultures may have local names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have longer flight feathers, which make their configuration more like that of a general-purpose bird such as a broad wing. This makes flying easier while learning the exceptional skills required to be effective hunters as adults. The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which itself also includes another subfamily comprising caracaras and a few other species. All these birds kill with their beaks, using a tomial "tooth" on the side of their beaks—unlike the hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey in the Accipitridae, which use their feet. The largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-legged Kittiwake
The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English name is derived from its call, a shrill 'kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake'. The genus name ''Rissa'' is from the Icelandic name ''rita'' for this bird, and the specific ''tridactyla'' is from Ancient Greek ''tridaktulos'', "three-toed", from ''tri-'', "three-" and ''daktulos'', "toe". In North America, this species is known as the black-legged kittiwake to differentiate it from the red-legged kittiwake, but in Europe, where it is the only member of the genus, it is often known just as kittiwake. Range and distribution The black-legged kittiwake is a coastal bird of the arctic to subarctic regions of the world.del Hoyo, J; Elliott, A; Sargatal, J (1996). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol. 3''. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 622–6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fulmar
The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on stiff wings, and their tube noses. They breed on cliffs, laying one or rarely two eggs on a ledge of bare rock or on a grassy cliff. Outside the breeding season, they are pelagic, feeding on fish, squid and shrimp in the open ocean. They are long-lived for birds, living for up to 40 years. Historically, the northern fulmar lived on the Isle of St Kilda, where it was extensively hunted. The species has expanded its breeding range southwards to the coasts of England and northern France. Taxonomy The genus ''Fulmarus'' was introduced in 1826 by the English naturalist James Stephens. The name comes from the Old Norse ''Fúlmár'' meaning "foul-mew" or "foul-gull" because of the birds' habit of ejecting a foul-smelling oil. The type specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its surrounding areas) is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate. According to the ancient manuscript , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
