Interesting stuff. I went to Iceland recently and it's chock full of crazy-ass stuff like this.
cool! i mean, hot!
i'm strongly in favor of any place chock full of crazy-ass stuff. iceland is on my list of places to visit!
from link 1:
"In Reykholt there is only one ancient structure left intact, and it was built by Saga-man himself – Snorri’s hot tub. The geothermally heated pool (Snorralaug) is one of a few constructions preserved from Iceland’s mediæval period. The hot tub is constructed of hand-hewn lava, cut and tooled to exact measurements, so precise that the blade of a knife cannot be thrust between the stones. It’s similar to the cyclopæan stonework of Tonga and Easter Island – I didn’t know such masterful ancient masonry existed in Iceland."
from link 2:
"By the intake conduit there is a stone with the initials V.Th. 1858. The initials were cut in 1858 when Snorralaug was restored on the initiative of pastor Vernharður Þorkelsson."
hmmm, I say.
the first link also notes that the tunnel referenced in link 2 was the site of ol' Snorri's last snore, as it were, which is pretty interesting! Get 'em in the bath, as Charlotte Corday might have said.
Snorri (to brings us such interesting tales as "King Harald's Saga") did in fact lead a very interesting life, despite his attempts to be a quiet, stay-at-home historian & writer....(via the intro in my penguin classics paperback of King Harald's Saga, synopsis, paraphrase...)
towho, damn it, who!