On top of the volcano: The expeditions on Hekla and Snæfellsjökull in the 18th and 19th centuries

Abstract

The present paper gives an overview of the history of climbing on Hekla and Snæfellsjökull, Iceland’s most famous volcanoes, in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, Hekla was compared to the gates of hell due to its frequent and violent eruptions. Snæfellsjökull was considered a supernatural space and a domain of Bárður, the eponymous hero of Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss. The author analyses a wide range of sources: Reise igiennem Island by Bjarni Pálsson and Eggert Ólafsson (who reached the summits of Hekla and Snæfellsjökull in 1750 and 1754, respectively), British (from Banks to Burton) and French (from Gaimard to Labonne) travelogues, Ida Pfeiffer’s journals (who was the first foreign woman to climb Hekla).