To view the posts in this blog in chronological order click on 'Love at First Sight' at the top of the blog archive on the right, then 'Newer post' thereafter.
Note: click on any photo to view the pictures as a slideshow.
In the year 930, the first annual gathering of chieftains - the AlÞing - was held at a place in the south of Iceland for discussion and decisions about law, settlement of disputes, and other important matters. The place was known as Þingvellir - pronounced 'Thingvetlir', which in English means Parliament Plains or Valley. This gives it a claim to be the world's first ever representative assembly and is one of the reasons it is now a world heritage site. The other is that the valley is formed by the pulling apart of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the American. They are separating at roughly 2cm a year and the valley is now radically changed from what it looked like around the time of the first assembly. In fact it must be around 40cm. wider now than it was when I first visited Iceland 20 years ago. Oooer...
Note: click on any photo to view the pictures as a slideshow.
In the year 930, the first annual gathering of chieftains - the AlÞing - was held at a place in the south of Iceland for discussion and decisions about law, settlement of disputes, and other important matters. The place was known as Þingvellir - pronounced 'Thingvetlir', which in English means Parliament Plains or Valley. This gives it a claim to be the world's first ever representative assembly and is one of the reasons it is now a world heritage site. The other is that the valley is formed by the pulling apart of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the American. They are separating at roughly 2cm a year and the valley is now radically changed from what it looked like around the time of the first assembly. In fact it must be around 40cm. wider now than it was when I first visited Iceland 20 years ago. Oooer...
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Looking across the Assembly Site. The flag shows the possible location of Lőgberg, where the Law Speaker stood to address the gathering.
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In addition, Þingvellir is a
beautiful place. It's in the ownership of the Icelandic people
forever, is a national park and is a very popular tourist
destination. It has an informative website here:
Here an ICV volunteer is creating a path to take visitors through the woods at Þingvellir.
The first part of the name, Þing
pronounced 'thing', means a gathering such as an assembly
or parliament. Things were customary throughout the Norse world at
that time and as the Vikings spread out and settled new lands they
established Things.
The
Sherwood Forest Connection
I live close to Sherwood Forest,
which is forever linked in people's minds with the legendary hero
Robin Hood. But it does have other history. A few years ago a group
of local historians started to investigate certain landscape features
in an area of the forest known as 'Birklands'. In particular there is
a raised mound, Hanger Hill, which in past times was known as 'Thynghowe' which stands at a point where
three parishes meet.
Our part of England was once known by the self-explanatory name of 'Danelaw' and is rich in history from Viking times, which is often reflected in local place names. The name Birklands itself comes from the Norse word for birch which still means the same in Icelandic. And within Birklands there is a village called Budby: change the 'd' to the Norse 'ð', and you get Buðby. A buð (pronounced 'booth') was a temporary dwelling, and to this day you can see the remains, at Þingvellir, of the buðs of the chieftains who came to the annual Thing with their entourages. This is enough to make the first part of the name, 'Thynghowe', significant.
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A 1772 map showing the Birklands area of Sherwood Forest with Hanger Hill, Budby and the Site of Thynghowe. Photo credit: The Friends of Thyngehowe.
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| This Birkland is near Reykjahlíð, North Iceland. |
One of my particular favourites
is what appears to be an ancient thoroughfare, a track used by a
great many people over a long time, leading to Thyngehowe. It reveals
something instantly recognisable to we trail builders: doubling and
widening of the track as it goes up the steeper, sloppier, parts of
the route as travelers spread out in bad weather, trying to find mud
free ground.
The history group, The Friends of Thynghowe, continue to investigate the past of this site and have an excellent programme of events and volunteer activities, all of which can be seen on their website:
The history group, The Friends of Thynghowe, continue to investigate the past of this site and have an excellent programme of events and volunteer activities, all of which can be seen on their website:
And they are affiliated to the Thing Project, which brings together people working with other similar sites in Europe:
Here the Friends of Thynghowe are 'ground truthing' evidence shown up in the Lidar survey.
The ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest. In their declining years these great trees are a powerful and moving sight. The rule of thumb is that it takes them 300 years to grow to maturity, in which state they stay for a further 300 years, before declining for another 300 years.
So yes, I guess they could have been around in the time of Robin Hood.
Update 12th December 2018:
This mighty old tree is the Major Oak. Between 800 to 1000 years old, it is reputed to have been the hideout of Robin Hood and his outlaws.
When I was a kid you could get inside its hollow trunk, but now such behaviour is forbidden in order to protect its ancient and delicate health. The limbs have been supported by posts since Victorian times.
Iceland Conservation Volunteers (ICV) is the volunteer arm of Umhverfisstofnun, the Environment Agency of Iceland. For more information about ICV see http://www.ust.is/the-environment-agency-of-iceland/volunteers
