Pagan Community Notes: Iceland Ásatrú temple, Green Willow Grove, the Newberry Library and more!

Reykjavik — According to local sources, construction on the much-anticipated Ásatrú temple has been halted. “The unique design of the building, by architect Magnús Jensson, is not simple in execution.” Due to that fact, builders have run into “engineering challenges.” In 2015, columnist Eric Scott spoke with Jensson about his unique design and the reasons behind it. “The temple will bore into the hill itself, leaving an interior wall of bare rock; water will trickle down that wall and collect in streams and pools built into the floor.

Column: Iceland’s Temple on a Hill

Outside of my dormitory room at the University of Iceland stretched a long and mostly empty expanse of land. Directly across the street, construction crews were erecting new campus buildings, but beyond that, I saw mostly empty ground: the pond called Vatnsmýri, the lawns surrounding the Reykjavik airport’s landing strip. In the distance there was a hill with a shining dome resting at its peak. The dome is called Perlan, a revolving restaurant and tourist hub; the hill itself is called Öskjuhlíð. I never had reason to visit Perlan during my visit, but I came to the base of Öskjuhlíð several times –a trail leading to the beach at Nauthólsvík runs alongside it, and I often went there to swim.