Vik, Iceland

In the summer of 1981, I returned to Iceland for another brief interlude away from the chaos of densely populated continental Europe. This time I managed to make it to Vik along the south coast, and spent a night in a peculiar guest house, attached to an old corrugated Nissen hut. Atop the steep rise behind it, I could see the skeletal remains of an old air base. All along the coastline the beach is black, largely the flood plain of the Myrdalsjökull glacier where Katla recently erupted. Out to sea against the stormy horizon, stand several stark black pinnacles of basalt, seeming much like you've reached the legendary Ultima Thule.

Exhausted from the long drive across the midlands, I readily went to my room, tossed aside my gear and practically fell asleep the minute I hit that bed. I had the strangest dream. I was a British ordinance Major, in some makeshift officers club. The place was packed and spirits were riding quite high. Somebody came up and took me by the shoulders wholeheartedly cheering excitedly, "We won, old chap, we won!" It's my good guess this was the end of the war we were celebrating. When I finally woke up, I felt somewhat askew, so I left the room and went down to the small sitting lounge of the reception, to make some sense of things. At some point I just plonked myself down on a sofa, shaking my head, still befuddled. It was then I realized the owner was standing there grinning at me like a cheshire cat. The grin broadened ever more as he cut straight to the chase; "Strange dreams, huh?" "Yeah, no kidding" I blurted out eying him curiously. Obviously I wasn't the first this had happened to, as I didn't have to say much. He explained that amongst other things, Vik had been a refueling station for transatlantic missions towards the end of WWII, and that practically all his guests had had strange dreams about it.

It's been said that around Iceland, there are alot of places that seem to border on the otherworldly. Indeed, no surprise what inspired the extraordinary myths of their Norse ancestors.