the Sons of Muspell march on Reykjanes Peninsula.

With some concern we've recently been watching the thousands of earthquakes and threat of an eruption of some degree in Iceland, which happened Friday night at Fagradalsfjall Mountain.

[3/20 photo by Vilhelm Gunnarsson.]

The island country's been statistically overdue for one for awhile now, as Iceland formed up out of the Mid-Atlantic rift, and straddles the North American & Eurasian tectonic plates, so geographically it's lava-made and volcano-centric.

The Reykjanes Peninsula happens to be where metro Reykjavík is, which groups nearly 2/3rds of the country's population together, and in this context is a vulnerability in terms of possible lava flow and poisonous gases. While the eruption was originally predicted to be at Mount Keilir, ~20 miles SW of Reykjavík, the instead active Mount Fagradalsfjall fissure eruption is ~25 miles SW on an opposing slope away from the capital.

So far the lava is mostly within the unpopulated Fagradal valley south of the mountain. If the flow fills that and continues 4 miles south to advance over & past the Route 427 road, it looks like there's 3 farmsteads before the lava hits the coast, but that's all for the Norns to decide, or for Thor to stop Surtr's premature doom-filled march into Midgard.

Yet, for cultural perspective, while I was on a horse ride in Iceland, someone asked about the nearby dormant volcanos erupting and what the residents do to prepare in that event. The horse trainer replied that farmers, ranchers, & residents just drive off until its over, come back, dust the ash off their roofs & livestock, and resume the business of living in Iceland if they can. They more easily accept the presence of landvættir, alfar, jötunn, and the ever-present threat of fire giants. Such is the fateful pragmatism inherited by the descendants of Vikings. That amazing stoicism aside, NorsePlay hopes & blóts the best for them!

[The above 3/20 newscast gets uncomfortably up close to the flow (not like a flying 1K° bit of pyroclast couldn't just fatally facebomb anyone within range!) & new micropeak tentatively named Geldingardalsgosas (though officially nearby Grindavík will decide). And as of this entry, live feed of the eruption can be currently be seen here.]

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology, field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.