Lady of the Mountains

Origin
The "Lady of the Mountain" is the female personification of Iceland. While she symbolised what Icelanders considered to be genuine and purely Icelandic, in her purity she reflected a deep-seated, but unattainable, wish of Icelanders to be a totally independent nation. Fjallkonan is thus, not only a national symbol, she also represents the national vision, the nation's ultimate dream. She was first depicted in the poem Ofsjónir by Eggert Ólafsson (1752) but her name was mentioned for the first time in the poem Eldgamla Ísafold by Bjarni Thorarensen. From that moment onwards, she became a well-known symbol in Icelandic poetry.