Hekla, or Hecla, is an active stratovolcano in the south of Iceland with a height of 1,491 m (4,892 ft). Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since the year 1210. During the Middle Ages, the Icelandic Norse called the volcano the "Gateway to Hell" and the idea spread over much of Europe.
Hekla and Þjórsá
Illustration from Olaus Magnus's Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, book 2, 1555
Tephra horizons in south-central Iceland. The thick and light coloured layer at center of the photo is rhyolitic tephra from Hekla.
Hekla beyond a snowy field of volcanic ash
Iceland is a Nordic island country between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is linked culturally and politically with Europe and is the region's most sparsely populated country. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents. The official language of the country is Icelandic.
Norsemen landing in Iceland – a 19th-century depiction by Oscar Wergeland
Ingólfr Arnarson (modern Icelandic: Ingólfur Arnarson), the first permanent Scandinavian settler
Ósvör, a replica of an old fishing outpost outside Bolungarvík
HMS Berwick led the British invasion of Iceland.
