Sigurdur Thorarinsson 1911–1983

Abstract

In March 1875 a number of farms were abandoned in eastern Iceland as a consequence of the great eruption of Askja volcano. The abandonment of one farm, however, had to be delayed as the family was expecting a child. In the spring a son was born. He was Thorarinn, the father of Sigurdur Thorarinsson. This incident is merely one example of the dynamic interaction between man and nature which is so typical of Iceland. Here the geological mill, fueled by vigorous volcanism, glaciers, and swift rivers, grinds faster than elsewhere on earth. Here the existence of a small nation is continually responding and adjusting to the environmental pressures generated by rapid and sometimes catastrophic earth processes.