A slumbering giant seems to be awakening on Iceland’s south-western peninsula, Reykjanes. Surtur, god of the fire giants. The peninsula’s name literally means the Smoking Peninsula because when the first settlers arrived here, smoke bellowed up from the lava rocks. That was over a thousand years ago. Since then the peninsula has mostly been dormant and given us the benefit of the warmth underground which we use to heat our homes and give us hot water. Time has come to pay the price for such benefits. Today we see the smoke rise regularly again with increased volcanic activity and active volcanoes. Icelanders have mostly had a careless and nonchalant approach to these incredible forces of our nature, we have gotten used to them.
The term “tourist volcano” has emerged in recent years. This might seem strange to foreigners but it’s been over 50 years since we’ve had to take a volcano seriously. These eruptions have mostly happened far away from the general public and almost immediately become tourist attractions. This time it’s been different, with the most recent volcano erupting inside the small town of Grindavík threatening our friends and cousins lively hood and homes. Even cutting off all hot water to the second biggest town in Iceland for almost a week. It was a cold and harrowing wake up call. We were dormant to the nature of the threat under our biggest population centers. It seems strange now to reflect that a year ago when I warned tourists of a possible eruption soon they asked “Oh my God, what should we do if a volcano erupts?” and I replied “Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show”. Iceland is truly the land of Ice and Fire where the awesome forces of nature need not necessarily be feared but should always be respected!
