Flakstad Island

Julian May's description of the Norwegian Island of Flakstad, above the Arctic Circle, reminded me of an image that I used to illustrate a post about Norse settlements in Greenland in Poul Anderson's The Merman's Children. See here.

Flakstad (see also the image attached to this post):

gray cliffs, lightly touched with green;
luminous blue water;
white boats;
scarlet houses with black roofs.
-Jack The Bodiless, 11, p. 120.

Both authors show that fantasy and sf can include realistic nature scenery.