Today in Monday Mysteries we get introduced to the “guy on a hill ” that I passed by every day in Reykjavik.

Well, of course, by “guy” I mean a statue of a guy that sits on top of a large, green hill in Reykjavik. I walked by and/or criss-crossed that hill several times each day, since the hill — and that statue — stood between either me and the hotel, me and the touristy part of town, or me and the conference center where Chris had his meetings. Each time I passed by, I kept thinking, “I wonder who that guy is.”

So, I finally climbed up to where the statue is to see what it said. Turns out it’s really not just a statue of one guy, but a monument to the founding of Iceland that is topped by a giant statue of Ingólfr Arnarsson.  According to legend, Arnarsson founded the first Norse settlement in Iceland in the 800s on the site of modern-day Reykjavik, guided by the gods to land here. He named Reykjavik after the billowing pillars of smoke from the nearby hot springs.

Well, that’s traditional story. According to Wikipedia, recently discovered archeological evidence suggests that Arnarsson’s colony was actually located elsewhere on Iceland.  Ah well. This statue was put up before they found that evidence which blows holes in story of the naming of Reykjavik. In the English version of the story on the bottom of the plaque on the monument, there’s understandably no mention of that.

Of course, maybe it actually does say that in Icelandic on that plaque, though. I mean, take a look at the sign in the photo gallery below. Note that in the Icelandic portion on top, the numbers “1902”, “1907”, “1924” appear.  Now take a look at the English. See anything odd? I mean, those date’s don’t appear at all in the English.   Makes you wonder what else is different, eh?

Note to self: find someone who speaks Icelandic  to solve that part of this Monday Mystery someday.

Anyway, here’s are a few photos of the monument to Ingólfr Arnarsson, my “guy on the hill” in Reykjavik.  BTW, there’s a little side mystery about those photos, and what’s depicted in them. In reality, the sky was NOT as cloudless overall as it appears to be from certain angles in the photo below. In the “view from the top of the hill” photo, you can see the incoming clouds approaching. It was raining on that hill where I was standing about 10 minutes later, it changed that fast. I was astonished to look at these photos today and see what looks like beautiful, cloudless, blue-sky weather behind the monument. That would have been nice, but it was weather we never had the 5 days we were in Iceland, despite how it looks from a certain angle near Ingólfr. Must by the Norse gods depicted with him directing the clouds to hide from my camera. 😉