I Wish I Was Where I Was When I Was Wishing I Was Here: Mentalities and Materialities in Contemporary and Historical Iceland

Abstract

The north acts as an Other space; somewhere that lies beyond. It is also a real place, however. In this article, I tease out the parameters that Iceland’s landscape offers for an understanding of the tensions between virtual north and real north. The first part of the article discusses the context of 19th-century antiquarian adventuring to Iceland. Foreign visitors journeyed to Iceland to reconnect with a past that was being lost in the industrializing landscapes of Western Europe. The second part of the article focuses on present-day archaeological surveys of a group of islands in Breiðafjorður, West Iceland. Drawing on a phenomenological approach and a discussion of 19th-century visits to Iceland by travelers, such as William Morris and W. G. Collingwood, the article explores how sagas and other local histories influence the production of archaeological knowledge and placemaking.