The Volcano - Being a Prologue

After a winter of preparation, my mother and I travelled to York, England in April 2010. The nation and some of Europe were profoundly and quite expensively affected by a volcano in southern Iceland. But that wasn't the only aspect of that trip with nordic accents - the street names in York had Viking names, as is York a Viking name.

That being a travel experience, I must say I have long been interested in things Norse, and have read several Icelandic sagas, though none recently. Something substantial draws me to that culture, to its extremes, to its depth of dark feeling.

Recently I have read a pair of Arnaldur Indridason's psychological suspense thrillers, and have tuned in, so to say, with his main man, Erlendur Sveinsson. Middle aged, vaguely driven, principled and I believe, direct - a man who sits on fast food, and might eat it.