What Happens When One Leaves Iceland?

    Since returning from Iceland I have had a couple of inspirations. First, I have been exceedingly motivated to sleep.  We traveled quite a bit and the result was a state of exhaustion by the end of our trip.  I have slept well these last couple of weeks.  Secondly, I have been inspired to knit.  Icelandic women knit like crazy and, even though I am not an Icelandic woman, I was inspired to take up the Gandhi like profession of making some clothing.  Thirdly, I have been inspired to read more works from Iceland.  This started while I was in the country when I began reading some sagas.  I have read most extensively the saga of Grettir the Strong.  He is a wily character.
    I have also downloaded and begun reading another work by a more recently famous Icelander, Halldor Laxness.  He was Iceland's only Nobel laureate, awarded for his corpus of fictional books that give insight into Iceland, politics, oppression, mystical elements of life, as well as insight into oneself.  For the course we were required to read the book Under the Glacier which is a difficult read for its nonsensical chronology of plot, but fascinating for the depth to which it portrays the characters involved in the story.  However, as I found the book a little bit difficult to read, I took up the suggestion of my host, Guðni Már Harðarson, and picked up another of Laxness's books, Iceland's Bell.  Though the style is more terse than I am use to, it is nevertheless a very compelling read that is drawing me in for a couple of reasons.  First off, it gives insight into historical relationships between Iceland and other countries in western Europe.  Though it is a work of fiction, it gives a perspective of Iceland's place in history that speaks truth to real life experiences that were hinted at in our travels.
      Yet, Iceland's Bell also tells the tale of the main character leaving Iceland. He is accused of murdering the Danish King's hangman during a night of drunken revelry and, when given the opportunity to escape, flees to the continent.  When he leaves Iceland he does not have a good go of it.  He faces starvation and homelessness in Holland, is sentenced to death immediately when he crosses the border into Germany, and is immediately impressed into military service in Denmark after being derided for his Icelandic heritage.  All in all, his travels from Iceland meet undesireable ends.  So why do I find this character portrayal compelling?  Even though the events that befall the main character are not very good, his is nevetheless a tale in the first part of the book of one leaving Iceland for other parts of the world.  His fictional experiences have given opportunity for me to reflect upon what has happened and will happen now that I have left Iceland for Iowa.
      So far, aside from snowshoeing, indoor soccer, sleep and a lot of movie watching, the events surrounding my leaving Iceland have been thankfully quiet and nothing like those found in Iceland's Bell.  Yet, I do hope my experience in Iceland coupled with my present experiences back at home will lead to some changes.  For instance, to get by in Holland, the main character in Iceland's Bell learns the Dutch language in the year he sojourns there, learning to communicate with a people different from his own in a tongue different from his own.  It is easy in America to get sucked into thinking that English is the only language one needs in life for it is all one will really have to speak.  I hope to learn the language of another people so that I can think about the world in their terms.  Furthermore, I hope to remember from my time in Iceland experiencing the earth as constantly changing.  Though we did not feel any earthquakes or get stranded by any volcanic eruptions, it is nevertheless a present reality in Iceland that the land is constantly shifting and changing in noticeable ways.  The same is true in the middle of North America, though it is far less obvious.  I hope to continue to see the world as a place continual change in which the stability of our plans constantly faces the possibility of upheaval.
     Finally, having left Iceland, I hope that I will never forget the kind, quiet (except for Gunnar), generous persons that I encountered there.  It is wonderful to experience goodwill anywhere and it is even better to experience it everywhere.  I felt welcomed and can genuinely say that I encountered God in the least to the greatest of the Icelanders we met. It was a good trip.