Sprengisandur
Sprengisandur (Icelandic pronunciation:
History and etymology
Like
Sprengisandur is only accessible during summer - like other parts of the inner desert, it is impassable in winter because of the snow, and in spring because of floods. While being the shortest way to the Alþingi for some Icelanders, for example, those living around lake Ljósavatn that is very close to the northern end of the route, and for inhabitants of Vopnafjörður, it had the downside of having by far the longest stretch through the forbidding inner desert regions among the other possible routes. For hundreds of kilometers, there was no fodder for horses to be had, and no human habitation to take shelter in. This feature gave the area its name: it is derived from Icelandic noun sandur "sand", which denotes the volcanic ash deserts of the center of the island, and the verb sprengja that means "to ride a horse to death; to be on the point of bursting after running for too long". One needed to ride as fast as possible, nearly driving the horses to death, to cross the mountain desert and reach the inhabited regions of the island again before one ran out of victuals.
Hence, Sprengisandur was, if at all possible, avoided by medieval Icelanders, even if it meant taking the longer route. One example is in ch. 8 of the
As usual with uninhabited places in Iceland, Sprengisandur route was considered to be haunted by ghosts. Both themes, the difficulty of passage and the presence of ghosts, are referred to in the famous Icelandic song Á Sprengisandi, written by Grímur Thomsen (1820–1896).
Developments
After the loss of independence in 1265, the route gradually fell out of use and was lost until the 19th century. The modern gravel road goes more or less parallel and a bit southeast of the ancient horse trail. A tourist bus runs over the Sprengisandur every other day from Landmannalaugar to Mývatn and back in July and August. If the weather is good, the route offers views of both glaciers and volcanoes Askja and Herðubreið. In the middle of the track there is a hut of the Icelandic Hiking Club, Nýidalur.[citation needed]
Transport
A gravel road called
A very remote airfield with two runways named Sprengisandur is located in the area (ICAO: BISP).