The Icelandic Waterfall of the Gods – Folklore Friday

All Things Iceland

This episode is part of my Folklore Friday series where I am sharing a folklore story every Friday in 2024.

Back in the year 1000 AD Þorgeir, the Law Speaker in Althingi or Icelandic Parliament, made the decision that Iceland would become a Christian nation. This was a huge decision for him to make considering that he was Pagan that believed in the Old Norse Gods.

When he returned back home to the north as a Christian, his first order of business was to get rid of the Pagan idols from his temple. It is said that he took all of the idols and tossed them into a waterfall. According to the story, the waterfall came to be known as Goðafoss or “Waterfall of the Gods“ or waterfall of the Goði (chieftain).

While it is true that Iceland became a Christian nation in the year 1,000, I have not heard of any concrete evidence that Þorgeir threw the idols into the waterfall.

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Random Fact of the Episode

During World War II, the MS Goðafoss, an Icelandic ship named after the waterfall, was sunk by a German U-Boat. It was transporting both freight and passengers, so the result was that many people lost their lives.

Icelandic Word of the Episode

Lögsögumaður – law speaker

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