Aldurjokull

One of the glaciers which originates from deep within the springs of the Askja Volcano. The start of Aldurjokull is slow moving and almost placid. By the time the waters emerge into open air, it turns into an even slower moving body of ice.
There have been many songs and legends about chasms opening up in glaciers of Aldurjokull, if only momentarily, to reveal long hidden places, forgotten in the eons of time. The most famous of these songs are undoubtedly the ones which detail the journey of Orlog Sýnnr recovering his famed black bladed dagger, Kol.

Geography

Aldurjokull begins as an almost placid thermal spring, Askjalaug, near the peak of Askja volcano. It was in this thermal spring that Askja the Shieldmaiden recovered from her grevious wounds in her battle against Yggdrasilix, adding to the claims of its healing properties.
From Askjalaug, Aldurjokull weaves its ways through the caverns of Askja. Within a few swordlengths of the waters emerging into open air, the water quickly freeze and take on its more commonly known glacial form. The glacier widens over its entire run to the bay at Demanturvik, where the lines of where the glacier ends and the ocean begins are blurred.
The last remnants of Aldurjokull meet their eventual end on the beaches of Demanturvik, where huge crystalline blocks of ice wash ashore and slowly melt.

Ecosystem Cycles

The waters of Aldurjokull melt for a short duration during the "summer" of Yggdrasil. It is during this time each year which the shores of either side of Aldurjokull become revitalised and innundated by its power and strength. As the colder weather sets back in, the river returns to its glacial form and the shorelines begin its year long hibernation once more.

Localized Phenomena

During the depths of the coldest times, icy winds occasionaly blast from the Wastes. These icy ocean winds tear through the mountains around Askja and rip at the longer and exposed stretches of Aldurjokull. When the conditions are right and where the glacier is less dense, sometimes the ice cracks to reveal chasms deep into the glacier's path. The drassilar call this phenomenon risiatgeir, "giant's pierce", as if a mail piercing spear of a giant is the cause of the cracks.
A risiatgier is often a violent occurence, always accompanied by a thunderous snapping sound with cracks along the shores of the risiatgier a common sight. Some risiatgier have been recorded to be so deep that the bottom of the glacier is revealed - these are often central events to the songs which detail the discovery of hidden tombs or temples of people long past.
A well known Aldurjokull risiatgeir appears in the Saga of the Blind King during which Orlog Sýnnr found his dagger Kol.

History

In the beginning few years of the period of time which became known as the Saga of the Blind King, all of Yggdrasil enjoyed an extended "summer" during which the island was rarely frozen. Aldurjokull breathed astounding fertility and life into the lands it flowed through and allowed the kingdom to store unprecedented amounts of food, which would serve the nation well during the years of conflict that came after.

Type: Glacier
Kingdom: Yggdrasil
Location: Urdar

"With the third strike,
the Blind King broke the river.
The shadowy tomb breathed death into the night,
but the King would not be denied.
From the clutches of a forgotten warrior of a forgotten time,
the King brought forth his dagger.
As sharp as ice, as dark as night,
the Blind King named it Kol."


Unknown skald