Travelogue

HofskirkjaToday was our last day on the southern end of the island before we would start heading north along the much less traveled eastern coast - zigging in and out amongst the fjords. For the next 10 days, we would pretty much leave the crowds behind and experience a bit more of what Iceland was like before becoming a major tourist attraction.

But first, we still had a lot more to see today along the southern coast.

Our first stop of the day was at the lovely Hofskirkja church, the last of the old churches of Iceland to be built in the traditional turf style.

Hofskirkja cemeterySince the Vikings pretty much deforested most of Iceland over a thousand years ago, timber was in short supply, so they rather resourcefully came up with the idea of using turf instead. Not such a bad idea as it proved to be sturdier than timber in the face of storms and better at keeping the cold out. Plus they are so cute.

Next to the church was a peaceful little cemetery with grassy mounds adorned by simple white crosses.

As we wandered respectfully through the cemetery, I couldn’t help but notice that everyone’s name ended with the suffix -son or -dottir. A son is given his father’s first name, with the suffix -son added to it and the daughter also has the father’s first name with -dottir added to it.

Today, however, it’s perfectly acceptable to follow the matrilineal line and for children to take their mother’s first name followed by the appropriate suffix.