Gullfoss

Gullfoss is one of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls, located in the canyon of the Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. The waterfall drops in two main stages into a deep, narrow gorge, creating one of the most powerful natural sights on the Golden Circle route. Its scale, mist and rugged surroundings have made it a natural choice for productions that want to show Iceland as dramatic, remote and visually overwhelming.

The waterfall has appeared in films and television series including Land Ho! (2014), Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), Vikings (2013–2020) and “Lost in Space” (2018–2021).

In Land Ho! (2014), Gullfoss is one of the Icelandic locations visited during Colin and Mitch’s journey through the country. The film follows two older former brothers-in-law as they travel around Iceland, and Gullfoss fits naturally into the film’s road-trip structure. The waterfall is used less as a plot location and more as part of the experience of travelling through Iceland, where the landscape becomes central to the characters’ attempt to reconnect with life, youth and adventure.

In Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), Gullfoss appears in an aerial establishing shot as the bus travels toward Reykjavík. The moment is brief, but it uses the waterfall as part of the film’s exaggerated postcard-like version of Iceland, moving between small-town comedy, national scenery and Eurovision fantasy. The shot helps place Lars and Sigrit’s story within a recognisably Icelandic landscape before the film shifts into the competition world.

In Vikings (2013–2020), Gullfoss is used as one of the Icelandic natural locations connected to the series’ later seasons. The scene at Gullfoss occurs in Season 5, Episode 17, titled “The Most Terrible Thing”. The location is used in a dramatic subplot where the character Aud dies by suicide, walking off and diving into the waterfall after learning of a bloody massacre committed by her family in Iceland. The waterfall’s raw power and surrounding landscape fit the show’s use of Iceland as a harsh, mythic and elemental environment.

In Lost in Space (2018–2021), Gullfoss is used as part of the show’s otherworldly landscape imagery. Like many productions filmed in Iceland, the series takes advantage of real natural locations that can suggest an alien or unfamiliar world without needing to build everything digitally. Gullfoss’ scale, spray and rocky setting make it suitable for that kind of science-fiction environment.

Vikings (2013–2020)

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