The Arctic Henge

In the far-flung village of Raufarhöfn in northern Iceland, incomplete arches of a larger stone pattern bear uncanny resemblance to the ancient Stonehenge. An ongoing project, the Arctic Henge pays ode to the country's Nordic roots, and is steeped in folklore that also influences its construction. In 1996, brick after brick was laid on this empty expanse of land in a way that the bricks met at the apex in a symmetric arch. Each of these bricks bore the name of dwarves that feature in the eddic poem Völuspá, where every dwarf is symbolic of a specific season. The underlying belief is that the completion of the henge will let one view the midnight sun from various perspectives. It is predicted that the entire stone construction may take years to complete. Today, the unfinished form of the Arctic Henge creates a dramatic picture under night skies, even as the auroras continue to flicker overhead.