Leif Erikson (the Inland Version)

     I did not notice on our flight in, but Iceland's main international terminal at Keflavik airport is named after the great viking explorer, Leif Erikson, who happened upon American shores hundreds of years before the any other European.  It is an interesting name for a terminal as I know of no other terminals named after vikings (they kind of had a bad reputation in most parts of Europe).  The name is also interesting because I feel like it compels the air traveler to head west, not east.  Though Leif Erikson himself only made it to the eastern shores of Canada, settled there for a few turbulent years and decided to return to the peacefully harsh climates of Iceland and Greenland, his name has made it further inland.  In fact, the street on which I grew up was named 'Leif Erikson Drive'.  For me, at least, traveling from Iceland to Iowa is to follow in the footsteps of Leif Erikson himself as he seems to forever mark my way home.
      Unfortunately, I think the only sagas to be written about our journey will be the few short blog posts that we have published to this internet archive over the past weeks.  There will be no stories of how we cracked heads with axes, stole Irish women and slaves, or traversed the icy seas in open vessels.  I doubt our travels will ever inspire such glorious modern works like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit which were inspired by the poetry passed down from the history of the Icelanders.  There is unlikely to be anyone looking to the group led by Gunnar the Strong on tours through the churches in Iceland for inspiration the same way that J.R.R. Tolkien looked to Snorri Sturluson in writing his great works.  We encountered no gollums, trolls, hidden people or elves in our adventures (though some in our group would argue that we met giants).  Our travels were not epic in these ways.
     Yet, I must reiterate that I feel carried back to Iowa by the legacy of Leif Erikson.  There were elements, many elements, of our studies and travels that will stand out in our own lives as epic.  Though they may not make the history books the same as other epic sagas, they nevertheless are a noticeable part of history, even if only our own.  We are changed.  We have met others across the sea with whom we have laughed, prayed, lived, dined, shared and loved.  Our conversations and experiences were epic and they will be recorded as sagas in our hearts and minds for years to come.  Though I have no plans to settle in Nova Scotia anytime soon, the epic journeys of the vikings are what I must compare our experience to as we have returned to Iowa.  We left our axes at home but our hearts went willingly into the great wide open and the stories of our lives are all the better for it. 

Drottin, thank you for the brave ancestral souls who have spanned worlds and crossed oceans, setting examples that we continue to follow today.  There is much that we do not know of our lives and of ourselves, but we are able to see ourselves more clearly when we share with others.  Thank you for the opportunity to do so in Iceland and thank you for the opportunity to do so once again in Iowa.  You are a generous God and there is no end to the love that you have shared through others in this world.  I thank you for this.  I also give thanks that our travels were safe and pray that our future journeys may be as blessed as our trip to Iceland.