Glymur () is the second-highest
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, with a cascade of 198 m. It was long regarded as the tallest until being surpassed by
Morsárfoss, a newly measured waterfall near Morsárjökull in 2011.
It is situated at the rear end of the
Hvalfjörður
Hvalfjörður (, "whale fjord") is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. The fjord is approximately 30 km long and 5 km wide.
The origin of the name Hvalfjörður is uncertain. Certainly today there is no pr ...
. Since the opening of the
Hvalfjörður Tunnel under this
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
, visitor numbers have dropped.
The river
Botnsá runs from the
Hvalvatn lake and after a short distance the water falls down alongside the Hvalfell mountain into a steep canyon. The waterfall can be accessed from a parking area at the end of the road. Hikers can view the waterfall from marked paths on the east side of the river Botnsá.
Gallery
Glymurschlucht.JPG, Downstream view of the canyon
Rauðhöfði.jpg, Legend of Rauðhöfði
Second picture is an engraving showing people trying to escape from a monster whale. It is an illustration to the Icelandic legend of Redhead (Rauðhöfði ) which is said to be the cause of formation of Glymur.
See also
*
List of waterfalls
This list of notable waterfalls of the world is sorted by continent, then country, then province, state or territory. A waterfall is included if it has an existing article specifically for it on Wikipedia, and it is at least high, or the fa ...
*
Waterfalls of Iceland
Iceland is unusually suited for waterfalls (Icelandic: s. ''foss,'' pl. ''fossar''). This island country has a north Atlantic climate that produces frequent rain and snow and a near-Arctic location that produces large glaciers, whose summer mel ...
References
External links
Information
Waterfalls of Iceland
{{Iceland-geo-stub