There are waterfalls, there are cascades, and there are even cataracts and torrents.

Then there is Skógafoss.

Other waterfalls may be higher, wider or more powerful, but Skógafoss stands supreme in my mind.

Formerly a sea cliff, left stranded aeons ago by the receding ocean, the Skógá river now plunges 200 feet down onto a coastal plain nearly three miles away from the water’s edge.

The sprinkling spray produces rainbows the instant the sun lights up the South Iceland sky – single and double arcs, or even full circles on the most golden of days come and go with the strength of the sun’s beams.

Legend tells of buried treasure to be found in a cave behind the cascades, locked in a chest that escaped the grasp of locals seeking its riches.

The splendour of Skógafoss has been seen in Thor, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Game of Thrones, as well as a number of TV documentaries.

But seeing it on the screen cannot convey the majesty of the moment in life.

Seeing Skógafoss simplifies.

You understand your place in the world a little more clearly afterwards.