The Völva's Prophecy
"The sun turns black,
earth sinks into the sea,
the bright stars
vanish from heaven.
Steam rages
against the life-nourisher,
high heat plays
against heaven itself."
These words come from the *Völuspá*, one of the most powerful and ancient poems in Icelandic literature, preserved in the medieval manuscript known as the *Poetic Edda*. The title means "The Prophecy of the Völva"—a völva being a seeress or prophetess in Old Norse society, a woman who could see across time, communicate with spirits, and speak of things yet to come.
In the poem, an ancient völva speaks to Odin himself, the All-Father, telling him the story of creation and—most hauntingly—the story of Ragnarök, the end of the world. She describes how the gods will fall, how the earth will be consumed by fire and water, how everything will end in chaos and flame before the world is born anew from the sea.
For centuries, Icelanders have carried these words in their memory. And when catastrophe strikes—when the earth itself opens and fire pours forth—it is perhaps natural that these ancient verses rise unbidden to the mind. For what the völva described was not merely myth, but something Icelanders have witnessed again and again: the earth's terrible power to unmake the world.
When the Earth Opened
This description of the world's end from the *Völuspá* may perhaps have shot into the minds of some when the volcanic eruption known as the Skaftár Fires began in June 1783. After a great earthquake sequence, the eruption began on June 8th and lasted until February 1784. This is one of the greatest eruptions in Iceland's history and indeed in the history of mankind, and had tremendous effects on the land and people.
The fissure that opened was approximately 27 kilometers long—nearly 17 miles of the earth splitting open like a wound. From this gash poured an estimated 14 cubic kilometers of lava, enough to bury all of Manhattan under 300 meters of molten rock. The lava flowed down the Skaftá river canyon, and the heat was so intense that it boiled the river itself away, creating vast clouds of steam that mixed with the volcanic gases.
But it was not the lava that would prove most deadly. It was what came with it: an invisible killer in the form of fluorine gas and sulfur dioxide. These gases settled on the grasslands, poisoning the grazing animals. Sheep and cattle died by the thousands, their teeth rotting from fluorine poisoning, their bodies wasting from starvation as the grass itself became toxic.
A priest named Jón Steingrímsson, who lived through the eruption in the parish of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, kept a detailed account that has become one of the most important eyewitness records of a volcanic eruption ever written. He described how:
*"The floods of fire flowed with the speed of a great river swollen with meltwater... The noxious fumes were so strong that livestock dropped dead where they stood. People's faces swelled, their bodies became bloated, and many could barely breathe."*
On July 20, 1783, Steingrímsson delivered what would become known as the "Fire Sermon" (*Eldmessan*) as lava approached his church. According to legend—though historians debate its literal truth—the lava stopped at the church boundary after his sermon. Whether divine intervention or fortunate geology, the church survived, and the sermon became part of Icelandic folklore.
The so-called Mist Hardships (*Móðuharðindin*) that followed the eruption decimated the population—they are likely the greatest hardships that have crashed over the nation since the beginning of settlement. About 600 square kilometers of land went under lava in the eruption.
The term "Mist Hardships" refers to the strange, bluish haze that hung over Iceland and much of Europe for months after the eruption began. This was not ordinary fog, but a poisonous mixture of sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases. People reported that the sun appeared blood-red through the haze, when it could be seen at all. The smell of sulfur was everywhere—in clothes, in food, in the very air itself.
Of Iceland's approximately 50,000 people, about one-fifth—10,000 souls—perished in the three years following the eruption. But the losses among livestock were even more catastrophic:
- Approximately 50-60% of all cattle died
- About 75% of all horses perished
- Roughly 50% of all sheep—Iceland's most important resource—were lost
For a subsistence farming society utterly dependent on livestock, this was not merely an economic disaster but an existential threat. Families that had lived on the same land for generations found themselves with nothing. The dead were so numerous that in some districts, there were not enough living to bury them properly.
Some proposed abandoning Iceland entirely and resettling the population in Denmark. The Danish government seriously considered this plan, debating whether to evacuate the remaining Icelanders to the heaths of Jutland. In the end, the plan was rejected—partly due to cost, partly because Icelanders themselves resisted, refusing to abandon the land their ancestors had settled a thousand years before.
A Global Catastrophe
But could it be that the Skaftár Fires had effects far beyond the nation's borders? It is known that they affected weather and consequently harvests widely around the world. But what about the development of Western societies—did the Skaftár Fires play a role there?
Ash, fluorine compounds, and sulfur particles were carried among other places to Norway, the Netherlands, the British Isles, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, North America, and even Egypt. The ash and sulfur particles formed a fog that had great effects.
Benjamin Franklin, then serving as American ambassador to France, was among the first to propose a connection between the strange weather and volcanic activity. In 1784, he wrote in his meteorological observations:
*"During several of the summer months of the year 1783, when the effect of the sun's rays to heat the earth in these northern regions should have been greatest, there existed a constant fog over all Europe, and a great part of North America. This fog was of a permanent nature; it was dry, and the rays of the sun seemed to have little effect towards dissipating it... Hence the surface was early frozen. Hence the first snows remained on it unmelted, and received continual additions. Hence perhaps the winter of 1783-4 was more severe than any that had happened for many years."*
Franklin was correct, though he could not have known the full extent of the disaster. Modern volcanologists estimate that the Skaftár Fires released approximately 122 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere—the largest such release in historical times. To put this in perspective, this is roughly equivalent to the combined emissions of all volcanic eruptions in the 20th century.
The effects were global and deadly:
**In North America:** The winter of 1783-84 was the longest and one of the coldest on record. The Mississippi River froze at New Orleans—something almost unheard of. The Chesapeake Bay froze solid enough that people could walk from Maryland to Virginia. In New England, snow depths reached record levels.
**In Japan:** The summer of 1783 also brought the eruption of Mount Asama, Japan's most active volcano. Combined with the climate effects from Iceland, the years 1783-1787 saw the Great Tenmei Famine, in which approximately 900,000 people died—nearly one million souls lost to hunger.
**In India:** The monsoon system, which millions depend on for agriculture, was disrupted. The rains failed or came at wrong times, leading to widespread crop failures.
**In Egypt:** The Nile's flood—the annual inundation that had sustained Egyptian civilization for millennia—failed to reach its usual height in 1783 and 1784. The result was famine that killed approximately one-sixth of Egypt's population.
Ships had to lie in harbor because seafarers could not see far enough ahead, and therefore little to nothing fishing could be practiced here around Iceland. Harvests failed due to ashfall and an unusually hot summer—yes, paradoxically, the immediate effect in 1783 was extreme heat as the dark haze trapped warmth, followed by the severe cold winters that would follow.
The Poisoned Summer
One of the strangest aspects of the disaster was the summer of 1783 itself. While the following winters would be harsh, the summer during the eruption was bizarrely hot across Europe. The volcanic haze acted like a greenhouse, trapping heat. Temperatures soared to levels rarely recorded before.
In France, thunderstorms of unprecedented violence struck. Hailstones the size of oranges—some reportedly weighing over a pound—fell from the sky, killing livestock and destroying crops. People spoke of stones that fell "with the force of cannonballs." Some of these hailstones were collected and preserved; their enormous size can still be verified in historical records and paintings from the period.
Gilbert White, an English naturalist who kept meticulous weather records, wrote in his journal: *"The summer of 1783 was an amazing and portentous one, and full of horrible phenomena... the peculiar haze, or smoky fog, that prevailed for many weeks in this island, and in every part of Europe, and even beyond its limits, was a most extraordinary appearance."*
Animals began to behave strangely. In England, swallows—birds that typically migrate in autumn—left a month early, as if sensing something wrong in the very air. Fish died in ponds and streams. Plants withered despite adequate water. The natural world itself seemed to recognize that something was profoundly amiss.
The Story Then Turns to France
Historians have pointed out that the eruption had great effects on the economy in Northern Europe, and food shortage played a large part in the French Revolution of 1789. John Murray, a volcanologist, says that volcanic eruptions can have great effects on weather for two to four years, and that then has social and economic consequences, and possible political consequences cannot be ruled out.
Europeans got two harsh winters because of the eruption plus wet summers; crop failure followed this calamitous weather. In France, the weather was particularly strange up until 1788—powerful storms and hail that was reportedly so large it killed cattle.
The price of bread in France—which made up the majority of a common person's diet—doubled between 1787 and 1789. For people who already spent 50% of their income on bread, this was catastrophic. By 1789, a four-pound loaf of bread cost approximately 88% of a day laborer's daily wage. A family could work all day and still not afford to eat.
Marie Antoinette never actually said "Let them eat cake" when told the people had no bread—this is a myth. But the false quote persists because it captures the perceived disconnect between the aristocracy and the suffering of common people. The reality was that the aristocracy was genuinely puzzled by the crisis. They had experienced bad harvests before. Why was this different? They did not understand—could not understand—that they were experiencing the effects of a volcanic eruption 2,500 kilometers away.
In France, a series of events had begun that eventually led to the French Revolution in July 1789, when the common people stormed the infamous Bastille, which was a prison and an important military arsenal.
**An interesting detail:** The Bastille, that symbol of royal tyranny, held only seven prisoners when it was stormed on July 14, 1789. The prisoners were four forgers, two mentally ill men, and one aristocrat imprisoned at his family's request. The symbolic importance far exceeded the practical impact of their release. What mattered was that the people had seized a royal fortress and the guards had surrendered—the old order could be challenged.
It is probably too bold to say that the Skaftár Fires set off the French Revolution, but they likely blended into the complex sequence of events that caused the revolution to be made—but whether they were the drop that filled the measure is another matter.
The French Revolution is considered among the more remarkable events in Western history, and it, along with various other events, changed European history forever. Generally it is said that the revolution began in July 1789, but perhaps one could say it began long before.
Cultural and economic reasons lay behind the revolution, but social unrest had for some time left its mark on society. Intellectuals had long gathered and discussed social affairs back and forth and published various writings on these matters—this period is known as the Enlightenment, when thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu questioned traditional authority and argued for reason, science, and human rights.
One particularly influential concept was Rousseau's "social contract"—the idea that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed, not from divine right. When people are starving and the government seems unable or unwilling to help, that contract is broken.
Generally in these writings it was demanded that educated people have more say in social affairs and that people's rights to protest the authorities be increased. The Industrial Revolution was just beginning, and a large number of poor workers were in the large towns and cities. They had it bad and found it difficult to see provisions for themselves and their families. Grain and bread constantly rose in price and many starved. There was therefore sufficient kindling in French society for a revolution against the injustice that common people believed they lived under. People simply believed they had nothing to lose.
Great disorder prevailed in French society at this time; the state's debts had long gotten out of hand—France had spent enormous sums supporting the American Revolution against Britain, ironically helping establish the democratic ideals that would soon threaten the French monarchy itself—but the nobility and church, who ruled everything, acted as if nothing was wrong.
The French tax system was profoundly unjust. The clergy (First Estate) and nobility (Second Estate) were largely exempt from taxes, while the common people (Third Estate)—who made up 98% of the population—bore the entire tax burden. When you are hungry, and you see the aristocracy living in splendor while paying no taxes, while you work until your hands bleed and still cannot afford bread—that is when revolution becomes inevitable.
French society was therefore ill-prepared to deal with weather calamities and the crop failure that followed the Skaftár Fires on top of social unrest.
In the wake of the attack on the Bastille, King Louis XVI saw no other option but to announce more liberal forms of government, but that was not enough to calm the waves, because people had had more than enough of undemocratic authorities and noblemen who considered themselves superior to others.
**A curious historical note:** When Louis XVI was informed that the Bastille had fallen, he reportedly asked, "Is it a revolt?" The Duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt replied, "No, Sire, it is a revolution." Whether this exchange actually occurred is debated, but it captures the moment when the old world ended and the new began.
In August, a document was put forward that the revolution is most associated with—the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen—it deals with the rights of citizens and the revolution's motto, which were: equality, liberty, and fraternity (*Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité*). It was clear that the power and influence of the church and nobility would never be the same again.
This document, inspired partly by the American Declaration of Independence, proclaimed: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights." In a society where your status was determined by birth, where a peasant remained a peasant and an aristocrat remained an aristocrat, this was revolutionary indeed. The declaration stated that rights came not from God or king, but from nature itself—they were inherent to being human.
The Broader Canvas
All this could have pushed for further demands for democratic reforms and set off the revolution earlier than otherwise, but probably direct causal connections between the Skaftár Fires and the French Revolution will never be proven. One can, for example, wonder whether it would not have happened, perhaps a little later, even if there had not been an eruption in Iceland with the aforementioned calamities.
Yet consider the timing and the cascading effects:
- 1783: Skaftár eruption begins
- 1783-1784: Severe winters across Europe
- 1785: Continued crop failures
- 1786-1788: Gradually worsening economic conditions in France
- 1788: Catastrophic hailstorms destroy French crops; worst harvest of the century
- 1789: Bread prices peak; Revolution begins
The pattern is striking. Without the climate disruption, would there have been revolution? Almost certainly yes—the structural problems were too deep. But would it have happened in 1789? That is less certain. Timing in history matters. A revolution delayed might be a revolution transformed, or even prevented. The specific individuals who led the French Revolution might have been different. The course it took might have been different.
What is clear, however, is that the French Revolution had great effects on French society and then extended to other Western states, and the world picture might be completely different today if the French common people had not stormed the Bastille.
An age-old system, where property and goods were mainly in the hands of the nobility and church, was abolished. The Revolution was not bloodless—far from it. The Reign of Terror (1793-1794) saw thousands executed by guillotine, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. The Revolution eventually devoured many of its own leaders, including Robespierre, who had orchestrated the Terror.
Yet from this chaos emerged lasting changes. Feudalism—the system where peasants were bound to land owned by lords—was abolished. The metric system was introduced (a Revolution gift that the world still uses). The idea of universal education for all citizens, not just the elite, was established. The concept of citizenship itself was transformed from a privilege to a right.
Privileges were no longer self-evident in many European countries, and the bourgeoisie grew in strength over time. The French Revolution marked the beginning of the end of feudalism. Its mottos of equality, liberty, and fraternity have, ever since the eighteenth century, had effects on politics in Europe and will presumably continue to do so.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who rose to power in the Revolution's aftermath, spread these revolutionary ideals—along with French armies—across Europe. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) redrew the map of Europe and spread the Revolution's concepts of legal equality, meritocracy, and nationalism to conquered territories. Even after Napoleon's defeat, these ideas could not be un-thought. The old order tried to restore itself at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, but the world had changed.
The Völva's Vision Reconsidered
So we return to where we began: with the völva's prophecy of the world's end.
The ancient seeress spoke of the sun turning black, of the earth sinking, of fire and steam. She spoke, perhaps, not of one ending but of many—for the world ends and is reborn not once but repeatedly. Each great catastrophe is a Ragnarök in miniature: the old world dies, and from its ashes, a new world must be built.
The Skaftár Fires were such an ending. For Iceland, a fifth of the population dead, the landscape transformed, a way of life nearly extinguished. For Europe, harvests failed, climate disrupted, political orders overturned. For the world, a demonstration that we are all connected—that what happens in a remote volcanic fissure in the North Atlantic can starve peasants in Egypt, freeze rivers in Louisiana, and perhaps—just perhaps—help topple kings in France.
The völva's prophecy ends not with eternal darkness but with rebirth:
*"She sees arise
A second time
Earth from the ocean,
Ever-green;
The waterfalls flow,
The eagle flies over,
Hunting fish
On the mountain heights."*
After the fire comes renewal. After the hardship comes recovery. Iceland survived. France was transformed. The world turned, as it always does, and life continued.
But we would do well to remember the lesson: we live on a restless planet, and we are all downstream from its power. The next great eruption will come—perhaps in Iceland, perhaps elsewhere. When it does, will we recognize the connections? Will we understand that a volcano's breath can reshape not just landscapes but the course of human history?
The völva knew: everything is connected. Fire and flood, earth and sky, the natural and the political. We forget this at our peril.
**Author's Note:** The connection between the Skaftár Fires and the French Revolution remains debated among historians. What is certain is that climate events can act as accelerants to existing social tensions. Whether the eruption was the decisive factor or merely one among many contributing causes, it serves as a powerful reminder that human history does not unfold in isolation from the natural world. We are not separate from nature—we are embedded in it, vulnerable to its power, shaped by its forces in ways we often fail to recognize until we look back across the centuries and see the patterns emerge.
France, Iceland, England, India, Europe, Egypt, North Atlantic, Louisiana, Britain,
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