Skógafoss (pronounced ) is a waterfall on the Skógá River in the south of

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 ...

at the cliff marking the former coastline. After the coastline had receded (it is now at a distance of about from

Skógar Skógar (pronounced ), literally "forests", is a small Icelandic village with a population of roughly 25 located at the south of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, in the municipality of Rangárþing eystra. The area is known for its waterfall, Skóg ...

), the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the

Highlands of Iceland The Highlands of Iceland ( is, hálendið ) are a sparsely inhabited plateau that covers most of the interior of Iceland. They are situated above 400–500 metres (1300–1600 feet) and are mostly an uninhabitable volcanic desert, because the wa ...

Geography

The Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country, with a width of and a drop of . Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

is normally visible on sunny days. Visitors can be drenched if they go too near the waterfall, again due to the spray. According to legend, the first

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. The legend continues that locals found the chest years later, but were only able to grasp the ring on the side of the chest before it disappeared again. The ring was allegedly given to the local church. The old church door ring is now in the

museum. At the eastern side of the waterfall, a hiking and trekking trail leads up to the pass Fimmvörðuháls between the

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

Eyjafjallajökull Eyjafjallajökull (; ), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcan ...

and

Mýrdalsjökull Mýrdalsjökull (pronounced , Icelandic for "(the) mire dale glacier" or "(the) mire valley glacier") is an ice cap in the south of Iceland. It is to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller ice cap Eyjafjallajökull. Between t ...

. It goes down to Þórsmörk on the other side and continues as the Laugavegur trail to

Landmannalaugar Landmannalaugar () is a location in Iceland's Fjallabak Nature Reserve in the Highlands. It is at the edge of the Laugahraun lava field, formed in an eruption in approximately 1477. It is known for its natural geothermal hot springs and ...

. A 430-step staircase leads up the slope to the top of the waterfall.

In popular culture

The waterfall was the setting for Sólstafir's 2012 music video "Fjara" of their album ''

Svartir Sandar ''Svartir sandar'' is the fourth album by the Icelandic band Sólstafir. It was released on October 14, 2011, by Season of Mist. A music video for the song Fjara was made in July 2011 and released in January 2012.Wie is de Mol? ''Wie is de Mol?'' (''English'': ''Who is the Mole?'') is a Dutch adventure reality game show. It is based on the Belgian reality game show '' De Mol'', the original version of the format created in 1998 by Woestijnvis and broadcast on VRT. Fo ...

''. The waterfall was a location for the filming of the

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...

film '' Thor: The Dark World'', as well as ''

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book '' My World and Welcome to It'' ( Ha ...

''. The waterfall has been used as one of the locations of song "

Gerua Gerua () is a Hindi song from the 2015 Indian film '' Dilwale''. The song was written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, composed by Pritam Chakraborty, and sung by Arijit Singh and Antara Mitra. The song's music video stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. ...

", in the 2015 Bollywood movie ''Dilwale'' featuring

Shahrukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

and

Kajol Kajol Devgan (née Mukherjee; born 5 August 1974), known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian actress. Described in the media as one of the most successful actresses of Hindi cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six F ...

. The official music video of "I'll Show You" features glacial lagoons and rivers in South Iceland, including the waterfall Skógafoss. In season 5 of the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

series, ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'', the character Floki witnesses Skógafoss when he discovers

. In season 8 of the ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' series,

Daenerys Targaryen Daenerys Targaryen ( ) is a fictional character in the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' by American author George R. R. Martin. She is a prominent Narrative mode#Third-person view, point of view character, and is one of ...

and Jon Snow fly to this waterfall with her dragons and kiss in front of it.

Gallery

Climbing Skogafoss (184087143).jpeg Earth's Hair - Flickr - FerTravelPhoto.jpg, Long-exposure photo of the waterfall Skogafoss At Night (167821181).jpeg, Skogafoss at night Skógafoss - Top.jpg, Photo taken from the top of the stairs Skógafoss - Front view.jpg, Long-exposure photo of the waterfall, taken from the stairs Skogafoss in winter aerial view.jpg, Skogáfoss in winter, aerial view Skogafoss in winter.jpg, Skogáfoss in winter

References

External links

More information and photos about Skógafoss on Hit Iceland

Drone flight
{{Waterfalls of Iceland Waterfalls of Iceland

Geography

In popular culture

Gallery

See also

References

External links