Baltó - Laufeyjar Íslands-Tenór frá Dverghamri

Baltó lived near Vatnajökull, and many stories exist about him, his owner, Atli, and their adventures. Among them are remarkable accounts of Baltó’s keen intuition, which more than once saved the pair from trouble. With Atli’s permission, two such accounts are presented here.

Account 1: “In March we went together to one of the glacial lagoons here in the east (as I so often do in winter). It’s called Heinabergslón. There I met a friend who was heading out onto the ice with a group of photographers, and he told me he had gone the day before and measured the ice thickness at 38 cm. I hadn’t planned to go out on the ice that day, since it had warmed up so much since the day before, but as this friend was going out, I decided to do the same. I put on my glacier crampons, and Baltó and I started walking out onto the ice. After about five minutes, Baltó suddenly stopped. I told him to come, but he turned back, climbed onto an ice floe, and barked at me. I walked over to him, gave him a pat, and kept going, hoping he would follow. But then he started barking again and paced back and forth toward the shore. So I decided to head back with him. On the way back I walked between two icebergs and suddenly felt the ice giving way. I backed up and found another way to shore. When I reached land, I hugged Baltó and held him for a long time.”

Account 2: “He’s remarkable. He behaved in a similar way about four years ago when we went to Skálafellsjökull. That time it wasn’t about going out on the ice. After about an hour’s walk I wanted to go a bit farther, but he didn’t want to. On the way back, a blinding whiteout blizzard hit—nothing the weather forecast had predicted—right before we reached the car.”

Laufeyjar Íslands-Tenór frá Dverghamri, called Baltó born 26 September 2018 – died 25 July 2026

Images: Atli Scheving