Iceland’s twelfth biggest settlement has been abandoned. For the past few weeks, Grindavík, a thriving town with a strong community of working people and a long history going back as far as 930 AD, has experienced terrifying earthquakes. The population was then evacuated after a magma dyke started pushing its way up to the surface. The dyke stretches for several kilometres, past an important geothermal power plant and the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, then directly under the town and into the ocean. The magma is searching for a way up and getting closer to the surface. An eruption might begin at any moment, even before I finish this article. Hopefully it either stops soon or at least erupts in an uninhabited area.
Before elaborating on the horrifying situation the good people of Grindavík now find themselves in, we need some context from Iceland’s eventful history. Since we Icelanders first arrived on our island around 870 AD we have had many difficult lessons on how vulnerable humans are to the whims of nature. While others might at times have come to believe that some things are permanent, we are regularly reminded that everything changes – the weather, the landscape, even the mountains. But we have also learned that through perseverance and ingenuity we can survive and thrive.
Most of our old buildings have gone, we have no castles and very few ancient treasures. What we do have is our shared history, preserved through the centuries, and a strong sense of identity. That is what we have sought to preserve during our volatile existence and that is what has inspired us to carry on through difficult times.
A well-known poem from the Viking age states:
‘Cattle die,
friends die,
and the same with you;
but I know of something that never dies
and that is a dead person’s deeds.’
When the Vikings first arrived, much of Iceland was covered in forests and the population quickly grew to around a third of that of Norway. But the landscape soon changed. The forests were cut down and a few centuries after the first settlement a cooling period began. Glaciers grew larger and new ones were formed, including one which is now disappearing, with a vigil held in its memory a few years ago. (The glaciers would probably not have been welcomed when they first formed around 700 years ago. In some cases they made their surroundings uninhabitable.)
And then there are the volcanos. We have had to deal with those from the beginning. A huge eruption around the time of the settlement created a layer of ash that is still used to date our oldest archaeological sites.
Over the centuries many people would lose their lives in the worst eruptions, either directly or because of flooding or the loss of land and livestock, resulting in famine. Some of these eruptions even affected far away countries. The Laki eruption of 1783-84 claimed the lives of 20 to 25 per cent of the Icelandic population and most of the island’s livestock. A poisonous cloud of sulphur dioxide was then distributed around the northern hemisphere. It caused a fog or haze that killed many people in Europe and other parts of the world. Historians have alleged that the crop failures and harsh winters that followed the eruption led to the French revolution. The effects of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, which led to the cancellation of 95,000 flights, pale in comparison.
Through the centuries we have learned to live with our volcanoes. There have been hardly any deaths as a result of eruptions for over a hundred years. The population has avoided building in certain areas and scientists, rescue services and others watch the volcanos closely.
In 1973 we saw the first eruption in a built-up area for centuries. A volcano that had been dormant for thousands of years erupted in the Westman Islands next to the biggest town in the south of the country. In a Dunkirk-style evacuation a large number of boats sailed to the Islands to rescue the townsfolk who all got away safely. Powerful water pumps were then used to try and hold back the lava. The harbour was saved, which meant the town could be rebuilt, even though it was largely covered in lava and ash. The Westman Islands once again became a thriving community.
Now 50 years later we Icelanders are shocked to see that one of our towns is again threatened by a volcano.
The town of Grindavík is on the south coast of the Reykjanes peninsula. The peninsula has several volcanic systems but they had stayed quiet for 800 years, until 2021 when an eruption started in mountains east of the town. Another followed in 2022 and a third this year. These were all rather small and came up in safe places, producing what we call ‘tourist eruptions’.
This time it is much more serious. A volcano that has been dormant since long before people arrived in Iceland has woken up and this time it is in a very threatening location.
The eruption, if it starts, is unlikely to have considerable consequences for other countries or air travel. But it has already been devastating for the people of Grindavík.
Residents have been allowed to return to the town under supervision and spend five minutes in their homes to retrieve their pets and most precious possessions. While doing so many have seen how badly damaged their homes are. Streets in the town have cracked or fallen apart.
The town now finds itself in a graben, where part of the land falls while the edges are pulled apart and rise. The reason is that half of Iceland is moving in the direction of America while the other half is heading for Europe.
If the Reykjanes systems have started a new eruption phase we may have to deal with this for the next 400 years or so – but we will adapt, defend and survive. We have done so before.
Many of Iceland’s greatest achievements took place during the last period of Reykjanes eruptions. In a previous article I mentioned that in the year 1000 the parliament of the Icelandic Commonwealth met to resolve a fundamental issue threatening to induce a civil war: the question of whether or not to adopt Christianity. According to the Kristni Saga, the ‘Saga of Christianity’, after the proponents of Christianity had made their speeches, a man came running and announced that a volcanic eruption had started in Olfus (some 30 kilometres away). The lava, he said, was heading for the homestead of a Christian chieftain. The heathens took the floor stating that it was no wonder the gods had been angered by the Christians’ discourse.
But the Christian chieftain Snorri Thorgrimsson gave a retort which would silence parliament and conclude the debate. Standing in an ancient lava field, in this recently settled country, he asked: ‘What were the gods enraged by when the lava we are standing on here and now was burning?’
Hopefully things will calm down again soon in the area of Grindavík, but it is already clear that the citizens of this historic town will need the support of our country. If our history is anything to go by, Icelanders stick together in times of crisis. That is what has allowed us to survive in this beautiful and challenging country for 1,150 years.
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