It is possible to spot a Game of Thrones filming location without ever having watched the show.  Some places just resonate Westeros or Sothoryos.  Kirkjufell on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland is such a place.

Its summit shrouded in mist, as it was the day when I visited, I could easily imagine the hordes of wights lurking beyond it.

I am (un)reliably informed––by Google AI––that Kirkjufell appears in Game of Thrones, season 6 episode 5 and season 7 episode 6, although I have not watched either episode.  In the show, it is called Arrowhead Mountain, although the famous ‘arrowhead’ did not make an appearance for me, long though I waited.

A literal translation of Kirkjufell is Church Mountain and, while not one of the highest peaks in Iceland, it is one of the most recognisable.

Somewhat unfeasibly, huge cruise ships anchor off-shore in the small neighbouring coastal community of Grundarfjörður, while a straggling line of dark specks against the green mountainside indicate a few hardy souls determined to claim a new summit.

Meanwhile, I visit the beautiful waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss, at the foot of the mountain, and watch as three horse riders stray from the recognised track and cut across country, feeling envious of their liberation.

The mist as persistent as ever, I open my pack of home-made sandwiches, choosing a grassy spot where I can eat them and still gaze upon the wild majesty of the mountain at the same time, whilst feeling privately amused by the elderly couple who have bagged the grandstand seat in front of me, sitting on the one solitary manmade object in an otherwise vast natural wilderness.

Game of Thrones fans?  I think probably not.

© E. C. Glendenny

E. C. Glendenny summons her dragons.