Björkian guide to Iceland [updated 21 Dec 2023]
I made this guide based on my list of tourists attractions I would like to visit during a trip to Iceland, so why not share it with you? I hope every Björk fan and Iceland lover will find in it something worth visiting! I’m including a map too. This guide focuses on sites that are related to Björk and her music.
(open in Google Earth or Maps)
If you’re going to Iceland this June, instead of sobbing over a cancelled Cornucopia show, why not catch a performance by JFDR on 8th June [2023], the Björk-approved singer-songwriter, or visit a lighthouse in Grótta, a unique location north-west of Reykjavík, where Björk with Andrew Thomas Huang shot Stonemilker, the first 360-degree music video ever. Near the lighthouse you’ll find a small house where Björk composes and writes her songs. For her, it is a place full of fond memories. This is where she wrote her masterpieces and threw unforgettable birthday parties.
❝stonemilker was written on a beach next to grótta in 2012.
the song for me is cyclical , a bit of a mini-fuge ,
therefore i asked andy huang who did the video with me ,
if i could walk around the camera in circles
and include the panorama surrounding it .❞
- Björk about the music video, “score stories” 2021
But don’t be fooled by some online maps and tourist guides that lead you to the nearby “Björk Park” — it’s an old prank and you’ll end up getting attacked by birds…
Birds & Birches
If you don’t have any particular plans, why not visit an unusual natural park, Heiðmörk? This is where Björk composed string arrangements of Lionsong, based on her vocal improvisations. The old Icelandic saying goes “if you get lost in an Icelandic forest, just stand up”, but not there. The park has unusually tall trees (for Iceland) and is located to the west of Reykjavík. Björk composed string arrangements there that were also influenced by the crooked birch (is. birki, björk) forest she was walking through.
Heiðmörk is also home to some of Björk’s favourite birds, like the common snipe (is. Hrossagaukur). Its feathers inspired Tomihiro Kono to make a special wig for Björk, which she wore at the Orkestral concert in Chile and in the photo by Vidar Logi.
Another notable bird that can be seen on the site, and whose call sounds out of this world, is the common loon (is. Himbrimi). You can hear this bird in Body Memory (at the beginning of the second minute, but don’t confuse it with the flutes). It’s a very rare bird in Iceland, but it’s easier to spot at Þingvallavatn (Thingvallavatn) lake, where Björk made a recording of it that was used later in the song.
❝ I ended up recording Icelandic birds close to my cabin where we worked. (…) and there’s two couples, they live outside my cabin, very romantic. They’re called Arctic loons, L-O-O-N but in Icelandic, it’s himbrimi. And they are just always very romantic, always two. They couple for life and they do like heart shapes with the necks and it’s totally mushy. And they do this beautiful sound which is in “Body Memory.” ❞ (In sight out podcast)
The Þingvallavatn lake was also an inspiration to Mutual Core, the song about tectonic plates movement, which moves apart at the speed your fingernails grows, as Björk sings in the song. Also, spectacular valleys and hills on the south-west shore of the lake were featured in Ancestress. Generally speaking, the Þingvellir National Park, where the lake is located, is a must-see if a Golden Circle itinerary is in your Icelandic trip plans.
Impressive sculpture made of Medúlla font
Táknatréð (“Tree of Signs”) was installed in May 2008, the first structure which was built in Urriðaholt. The sculpture is made up of a font created by M/M for Medúlla. Táknatréð was created when M/M came to the country for a French culture festival — Pourquoi-Pas in the year 2007. The conceptual drawings for the Tree Of Signs were exhibited at the Design Center of Iceland in Garðabær. With the cooperation of Urriðaholt and the artists, it was decided to build the sculpture in Urriðaholt. Garbríela Friðriksdóttir (the sculptor) created the sculpture and added bas-reliefs which hang in the tree like fruit or seeds. It’s made of bronze.
Recently the sculpture got a new location — now it can be seen right next to the Dæinn cafe in Urriðaholt. Watch the short video:
Black sand beach
Otherworldly looking black sand beaches are the most popular filming locations in Iceland. Who Is It music video was shot on one of them at the foot of the volcanic cape Hjörleifshöfði.
❝ In the early hours of the morning, out on the black sands beneath Hjörleifshöfði, I turn up. Tracking the marks in the sand locating
the location of the video shoot. The tracks lead me to the portable camp. The camp with a kitchen and a toilet and dresser. And electricity. ❞
This is how Meester Fly (remember him?) described his trip to the site. If you are going on the Ring Road tour or visiting a nearby Reynisfjara Beach, it would be a perfect place to stop for a day or two.
There’s also a pretty famous cave called Gýgagjá, but some people call it the Yoda Cave after the opening scene of Star Wars was filmed here in 2016. It has a great echo, so why not have your own cave-rave Fossora party in there? Just joking ;)
Speaking of echo, Björk loves caves and how they sound. Her vocals on Cover Me were recorded in a cave full of bats (not in Iceland, though). By the way, you probably didn’t know this, but she chooses restaurants based on how they sound rather than what they serve. Björk also has got a “mobile cave” in her garden — the Reverb Chamber, which you might have seen on a scene of the Cornucopia show.
Sound sculpture where Björk loves to sing
The next place to visit on your trip to Iceland is this surreal-looking sound sculpture, which was one of the inspirations for Björk’s reverberation chamber. It’s called Tvísöngur (which translates as “twing-song” or “duet”) and is located in eastern Iceland, in the mountains above the town of Seyðisfjörður (I think it’s the smallest town, with less than 700 inhabitants, to have an official Pride Parade with hundreds of participants and a cute Rainbow Road, like in Reykjavík).
Designed by German artist Lukas Kühne, the concrete sculpture consists of 5 interconnected mushroom-like domes, each of which “has a resonance corresponding to a tone in the Icelandic musical tradition of five-tone harmony and serves as an amplifier for that tone”. Speaking of Icelandic musical tradition, I must add that Björk sometimes uses a particular technique of traditional singing called rimur, which is characterised by a half-singing, half-speaking style that is very prominent in some of her songs, like Unravel. Jóga was also influenced by the tradition, particularly kvintsöngur, which is singing in parallel fifths.
❝Iceland is one of the few places where where people sing in fifths. […] I just decided to be very blunt with this […] and do music with fifths.” (Björk 2022, Sonic Symbolism)
When Björk was designing her reverberation chamber, she wanted it to have a very natural reverb, just like she recalls from her childhood, when she was discovering her own voice resonating in chapels, churches and other empty, intimate spaces.
Listen how her voice sounds in the sculpture:
And compare to how it sounds in her reverb chamber:
❝ i have a reverb chamber on stage , i feel often when i warm up my voice, and my head starts resonating, that sonically inside our skull we have our own personal chapel, and in that way, the shape of my new reverb chamber, the ceiling in it is of that nature ❞ (Instagram post by Björk)
Björk originally imagined it to have 3–5 similar rooms between which she could walk, with ten different shapes in mind, but because of the necessity for mobility she ended up with a single chamber, with a ceiling inspired by medieval chapels and cathedrals. That’s also why it’s not made of heavy concrete, like the sculpture, but a specially designed mix of glass, plywood and a fibre-reinforced composite plaster.
Björk has two identical reverb chambers, one is mobile and travels with her Cornucopia in a 12-metre-long container, and the second has found its place in her garden, where it acts as her private sanctuary. Both of them were designed with cooperation with architecture and design firm Arup and made by creative studio Irma in 2019. In 2022, Vidar Logi photographed Björk inside the chamber. And yes, the floor is a big mirror.
Volcanos
…are an inseparable part of the Icelandic landscape, so it comes as no surprise that they are a part of Björk’s music, from the volcanic beats in Homogenic to her latest music videos [see an update at the end].
The Black Lake short film — that part where Björk walks barefoot in a volcanic ravine representing her heart’s wound — was filmed in Geldingardalur valley, “P R E C I S E L Y” where Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted a few years later, and where Sorrowful Soil video was filmed last year. She was very excited about this fact, writing that
“it only shows that everything heals in time , wounds get covered over , there might be scars but there is enormous capacity in nature to create new mountains and carry on ……. the valley we filmed in , Geldingardalur , is slowly disappearing and being filled up with lava”. (Instagram post)
Björk decided to shot the video on a volcano “because it’s about the mother energy, so the volcano is obviously giving that” (interview for Pitchfork 2022). She added that shooting the video in this dangerous location was “one of the biggest highs of my life, it was totally mental”.
The first part of Black Lake short film was filmed inside the Leiðarendi — the 900 meters long and 2000 years old lava tube, which goes deep into a lava field in the volcanic Sulfur Mountains near Reykjavík. The lava cave is free to enter, but be prepared — helmet, torch and hiking shoes are a must.
Entrance to the cave is surrounded by endless lava fields covered with soothing green carpets of Icelandic moss, which are another remarkable phenomenon to appreciate in Iceland. One of these fields was featured in the video (along with the Family “moving album cover”) in the final scene where Björk dances and walks in the field.
If this impresses you, head on to magnificent Eldhraun Lava Fields near the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, the largest and the beautifullest moss fields in the World.
Reykjavík city
Smekkleysa (or Bad Taste in English) record store is something that can’t be overlooked and yet doesn’t need to be introduced (I hope so!). All is full of memorabilia… Just go there, sit in Björk’s armchair and take a selfie with Einar Örn — if you’re lucky enough ;)
In downtown Reykjavík you’ll also find the Icelandic Punk Museum, where photos and videos tell the story of Björk’s early career and her first bands like Exodus, Tappi Tikarras, K.U.K.L. and the Sugarcubes. A must-see for every fan — Björk is an old punk after all, who “sneaked out of this party” singing “there’s more to life than this”.
Another notable spot is the Sirkus bar. One of her favourite places to DJ and hangout since she was a teenager and where the Triumph Of A Heart music video was shot in 2004, before two puffins landed on it’s roof. It has been the home of many Icelandic bands, including Sugarcubes and Björk, Sigur Rós, GusGus and Múm, and where many other artists have been spotted, such as Vivienne Westwood and George Michael. Sadly, it was demolished 15 years ago to make way for a hotel, after strong protests from artists . Right next to it you could spot a dystopian graffiti by street artist Pøbel. He illustrated the situation of Iceland’s financial crisis at the time by painting Björk as …a begging street musician, with a guitar and an empty hat, waiting for coins.
Last year it was reopened in a new location (Lækjargata 6b).
The last but not least: The Blue Lagoon, where Birthday (by Sugarcubes) music video was shot:
That’s all for now folks! Have a great time in Iceland!
[Update December 2023] — Jóga music video
Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the new eruption which took place a few days ago and ended just yesterday. This time it happened on location where Jóga music video was filmed. Björk wrote today on Instagram:
this eruption was right next to the mountain that i stood on in 1997 when i filmed with michel gondry a music video for the song “jóga”. the song was written for my ( still today ) best friend and she reminded me last month of that i had asked her at the time “who do you want to represent you in the video , iceland or kristbjörg kjeld ?” . she answered iceland and i remember explaining to michel that for me , mother earth , jóga , moss and lava is the same thing
