Herding Sheep
Two sheeps outside the park´s Visitor centre where our exhibition Heart of Iceland is.
Þingvellir Þjóðgarður
Sheep Herding
Every autumn farmers collect their sheeps back to their farms before winter arrives. It is different between municipialities when the main search is done for the sheeps. This weekend farmers west of Þingvellir national park are in their great quest. Some disturbance might occur on road 36 when flock of sheeps cross the road. That is though more to be enjoyed while is passes and then you can continue your journey.
Sheeps were brought to Iceland with settlers from the Nordic countries and the British islets more then 1000 years ago, like other land mammals except the arctic fox. Since then products of the sheep has been used to feed and cloth the nation in the past centuries. Undyed wool fabric, wadmal, became the main currency in Iceland for centuries. It is often said that the Icelandic sheep kept the nation alive for the last 1000 years though a lot is changed in Iceland´s economy today.