Under the Glacier by Halldór Laxness

Vegetation. All around the church and right up to it the grass is tall, and all still withered. The lych-gate consists of weathered, rotting pieces of wood just visible above the old brittle grass. What the Edda says about the paths to houses that no one visits applies also to the path to the church. The derelict external condition of the church was described earlier; no need to elaborate further.

Entrance. First, the threshold. This threshold as measured by the undersigned was forty-eight centimetres above ground. Cannot see how members of the congregation can gain entry into God's House if one excepts gymnasts in the prime of life. For the reason stated, it seems that people who are lame or rheumaticky, elderly women and greybeards, would not be happy to come here. Pastor Jón says in reply that a set of steps with a few rungs must have been removed for other purposes. No one had complained about this arrangement. The steps were not missed.