IN REYKJAVÍK, THE NORTHERNMOST capital on the planet, the two quintessential buildings are Hallgrímskirkja, the Lutheran parish church, and Harpa, the music hall. The former towers up from a hill in the centre of the old town, pointing towards the heavens. The latter sits down by the harbour, with a view of the bay that opens wide to the Atlantic.
Hallgrímskirkja is dedicated to the memory of one of Iceland’s most loved poets: the pastor and Baroque psalmist Hallgrímur Pétursson, who died of leprosy in 1674. This house of God takes the shape or elf church—a testament to the somewhat eccentric Christianity practised on this island. Icelanders believe that the (hidden people) who populate the isle hold their masses in rock formations in the mountains. The base and spire of Hallgrímskirkja imitate the magnificent columns of hexagonal basalt, found throughout the country, that helped inspire these tales—for the people of old considered them to be sure proof that the land itself was sculpted by the hands of ancient forces, mythical or biblical. Until the mid 19 century, church services in Iceland did not include choral music; the Icelanders’ only chance of hearing wondrous choral harmonies was if they happened to pass an elf mass being celebrated in the wilderness.
