Names for the Sea, page 33
I want to go on round the headland, partly so we can come back over the mountain pass and avoid the tunnels, but it’s getting late and the children are tired. Just to the tip of the peninsula, says Guy, leaning over to see the map. Look, where that lighthouse is. We pile back in the car and drive along another unfenced ledge until the cliffs bend back to the south. A gravel track leads down to a farmhouse, improbably positioned on a patch of grass below the cliff-top, and to an orange lighthouse. The car bleeps about loss of traction as Guy pilots it down the slope and positions it behind a concrete signalling shed so it can’t slide into the sea. The children, feeling the wind when Guy opens his door, sensibly refuse to leave their seats, so the three of us scurry along the track, laughing in the wind, and stand under the lighthouse at the edge of the north coast, looking back towards Akureyri, Reykyavík and home. I’m still not ready to leave Iceland.
Acknowledgements
Almost everyone we encountered in Iceland has contributed to this book in some way, and I give thanks for Icelanders’ enthusiasm and support for writers and writing.
I am especially grateful to those who gave me their time and their stories:
Brynja Brynjarsdóttir
Guy Griffin
Hulda Kristín Jónsdóttir
Katharine MacDonald and Alec Badenoch
Mads Holm and Mæja Garðarsdóttir
Matthew Whelpton
Mark Andrew Zimmer and Sigrún María Kristinsdóttir
Pétur Knútsson and Messíana Tómasdóttir
Þórunn Kristín Emilsdóttir
Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir
Theódór Áldar Tómasson
Theódór Ólafsson and Margrét Eirikka Sigurbjörnsdóttir
Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir
The students in the School of English at Háskóli Íslands taught me at least as much as I taught them, and my colleagues in the academic staff and in the administration there supported me throughout the year. I am especially grateful to Pétur Knútsson, Messíana Tómasdóttir and their family; to Matthew Whelpton; and to Mads Holm and Mæja Garðarsdóttir, who gave their friendship as well as their various expertise. I thank everyone who read drafts of this book and took time to correct my errors; Pétur Knútsson in particular read several drafts and met my mistakes with characteristically deep reserves of patience and good humour. I have tried to make sure that all factual statements are correct, but part of being a foreigner is to be wrong. Remaining mistakes are entirely my responsibility.
In England, I thank the University of Kent for allowing me to go to Iceland, and the University of Exeter for receiving me when I came back. I am, as always, grateful to Anna Webber at United Agents. I thank everyone at Granta for being delightful to work with, and especially my editor Sara Holloway, who sees what I mean and makes it better.
Sarah Moss, Names for the Sea
