attriButioN The quotations that open each chapter are adapted from an Icelandic epic The Prose Edda written down by Snorri Sturluson in the years 1220 to 1230 The Edda contained poetry of the Vikings as well as many Scandinavian myths and ancient stories of the Norse gods Snorri Sturluson a historian poet and politician was Christian but he had a deep understanding of why the sagas
and myths had a profound meaning for humans living in harsh and unpredictable environments The first part of the Edda the Gylfagninning or The Deluding of Gylfi tells the story of the creation and the end of the world as well as the adventures of Norse gods Gylfi was a legendary king of Sweden but he also appears as a sea king in Norse mythology
1 THE NEWEST PLACE ON EARTH It was at the beginning of time when nothing was sand was not nor sea nor cool waves Earth did not exist nor heaven on high The mighty gap was but there was no growth This is the place where people go to measure the flowers This is the place where the animals have come one kind at a time a bird a seal a fly And often they have come alone without a mate at intervals over the years This is the place where once upon a time was just forty-nine years ago This is the newest place on earth This is Surtsey island Surtsey came into being a few hours before dawn on Tuesday November 14 1963 It was not a gentle birth It erupted squalling and full of fire from the Atlantic Ocean near Vestmannaeyjar or the Westman Islands south of Iceland
Its beginnings were witnessed by the crew of the Isleifur II an Icelandic fishing vessel casting four miles to the south of the site of the eruption The story of the newest place on earth is one of the oldest It was told in the Norse myths that had described extraordinary events of nature Now the story told long ago was coming true again And for the fishermen of the Isleifur once upon a time was now
