Hraundrangi
The mountain rises to an unusually sharp point, less than half a square metre at the peak. It is a lava spire that remains with the rest of the ridge after much of the original mountain, Háafjall, fell in a large rockslide many centuries ago.
The first successful ascent of Hraundrangi was on 5 August 1956, by Finnur Eyjólfsson and Sigurður Waage of the Icelandic Air Ground Rescue Team and United States Air Force Lieutenant Nicholas Clinch. A legend that a treasure chest would be found on the peak proved untrue.
The mountain features in "Ferðalok" ("Journey's End"), a poem written at the end of his life by Jónas Hallgrímsson, who was born at Hraun. The last stanza of the poem alludes to a legend that the saga hero Grettir the Strong climbed it and left his knife and belt on the peak as proof; Hraundrangi was supposedly also called Grettisnúpa" ([ˈkrɛhtɪsˌnuːpa], "Grettir's Crag") by the people of Öxnadalur.
The 10,000 Icelandic krónur banknote issued in October 2013 honours Jónas Hallgrímsson and has on the obverse a background image of Hraundrangi and the rest of the ridge formed out of neologisms coined by the poet.
References
- ^ Andrew Evans, Iceland, Bradt Travel Guides, 2nd ed. Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides / Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot, 2011, ISBN 9781841623610, p. 330.
- ^ "Jónas Hallgrímsson: 'Öxnadalur'", at Dick Ringler, Texts and Commentaries, University of Wisconsin, 1996–98.
- ^ "Europe, Iceland, Hraundrangi, in Öxnadal", American Alpine Club, retrieved 29 March 2014.
- ^ Bjarni E. Guðleifsson, "Hraundrangi en ekki Hraundrangar", Dagur, 25 October 1995, p. 8 (in Icelandic).
- ^ "Hver kleif Hraundranga í Öxnadal fyrstur og hvenær var það?", Vísindavefurinn, University of Iceland, retrieved 29 March 2014 (in Icelandic)
- ^ "Jónas Hallgrímsson: 'Journey's End'", at Dick Ringler, Texts and Commentaries, University of Wisconsin, 1996–98, archived on 21 March 2014.
- ^ "Nýr 10.000 kr. seðill", Central Bank of Iceland, 2013 (in Icelandic); archived on 2 November 2013.
External links
Media related to Hraundrangi at Wikimedia Commons