Laufskálar’s Cairn

The lava mound in the distance is “Laufskálar’s Cairn”, named after a farm on this very spot that was destroyed in 894, in the first recorded eruption of the Katla volcano. Since then, it’s been a tradition for travellers to place a stone on a small cairn around here, for good luck.

And then the story spread, some people said (or maybe have always said) that this spot was a home for friendly trolls; that if you bring a stone from somewhere else and add it to a cairn while making a wish, that wish would come true. And then they told tourists this, and it’s become a whole thing.

Our guide seemed to believe it, because his wish was to become a tourist guide, and after several failed attempts and then placing a stone here, he finally got into the certification program he wanted.

I happened to have two lovely smooth black stones from Reynisfjara, the black sand beach where I got a little wet, and left one here. Hey, you never know. I don’t believe in trolls, but maybe they believe in me.

   14 May 2019
   Iceland
   Landscape
   
cairns big and small