Holuhraun To Be Named Holuhraun

A decision was finally been made on what to name the lava field wrought by the Holuhraun eruption: Holuhraun.

Vísir reports that the Skútustaðahreppur shire council has reached a final decision on what to name the new lava field borne from last year’s eruption of Holuhraun. After much deliberation and considering all available options submitted by the general public, the committee tasked with the new name has reached a decision. The new lava field will be called Holuhraun.

For those rooting for other names for the lava field, it may come as some comfort to know the decision was a close one. Ultimately, there were four contenders out of the many submitted: Flæðahraun, Holuhraun, Nornahraun and Urðarbruni. In the final vote, Nornahraun received one vote, Urðarbruni also received one vote, and Holuhraun received two, making it the clear winner.

The new name has been over a year in the making, starting with informal polls in September 2014, leading to things moving in a more formal direction last spring as an official committee was assembled.

Eventually, the committee got to work, and began to assess submissions. Some of these included Fjölmiðlahraun, “media lava”, on account of all the news coverage; Míluhraun, after the ISP which provides a live feed of the eruption, Míla; and Góu Hraun and Hraun-Æði, both which are names of popular Icelandic candies.