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Ask An Expert: What Makes Icelandic Moss So Special?
We turned to an ecology professor for answers Icelandic Moss is frequently advertised for its high nutritional value and health benefits. People love to slap the name on their cooking herbs or cough pastilles to make sure you know that you’re getting…
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Ask An Expert: What’s Up With The Squirrel In The World Tree?
Mythology is kind of quirky. A lot of the elements people came up with to explain the universe seem really random. Like a squirrel that runs up and down a giant magical tree that connects different worlds. Where did it come from?…
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Well, You Asked: Habitats and Hunting Grounds
What is the Reykjavík Grapevine staff’s favourite lunch break restaurant? Given that the office is close to the harbour, we usually have to fight it out with the seagulls over who gets the biggest crumb of cinnamon roll or piece of pylsur…
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Well, You Asked: Get Your Avocados in Tenerife, Birthday Boy
Why are avocados so expensive? It’s the price for coolness and chiqué, my friend. The ultimate freshness on toast requires a tribute and that tribute is attached to a lot of water. Seriously, A LOT of water. Jeez. I mean, the environmental…
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Ask an Expert: How the fuck do Icelanders Swear?
As much as it’s discouraged by our elders, curse words tend to sneak into the vocabularies of most people at some point in their lives. Icelanders are no exception. However, given that Icelandic is one of the older languages still spoken,…
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Nerds of Iceland, Unite!
You are entering a dimly lit room. Around you, figurines of humanoid and monstrous creatures occupy every available surface. You find a table littered with papers, but upon trying to read them you see the pages are covered in boxes filled with…
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Well, You Asked: Don’t Worry About the Dragon
Why do all Icelanders have kids? Not much to do in the winter, I would gather. The general mentality towards parenthood around here seems to be “why the hell not?” They seem easy enough to make and keep, and Icelandic parents have…
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Ask An Expert: How Do Geysers Erupt?
Geysers are some of the most popular natural phenomena to be observed and studied — there’s just something fun about seeing the Earth let out a great big belch every once in a while. But how and why do geysers erupt? We…
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Well, You Asked: Tuna in for more fishy advice
Why is it that whenever a restaurant offers a “catch of the day”, it’s always cod? When in trout, you can always count on cod in Iceland. It even used to be on the o-fish-ial coat of arms (seriously). It’s no seacret…
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Ask an Expert: What Influences the Strength of the Northern Lights?
The magical beauty of the northern lights draws lots of people to Iceland. In fact, a whole lot of people plan their entire trips around the forecasted activity. So when are the Aurora Borealis at their strongest? And what, if anything, influences…
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“This is not a comedy podcast!“
“I didn’t want to be like a normal person and just ask my comedian friends to hang out. I want the attention, so I decided I needed cameras and microphones,” David Í Dali says in the intro of his new ‘Serious Comedians…
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Hearing The Image
Eerie and vast sounds set the tone for Netflix’s new Spanish-language psychological thriller “Jaula.” And the creative mind behind the score is none other than Snorri Hallgrímson, composer and producer of both his own albums and various film soundtracks. We caught up…
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Ask An Expert: Are there more than 13 Yule Lads?
With Christmas on the horizon, we can once again look forward to visits from our favourite holiday tricksters . But the thirteen Yule Lads we know and love today were not the only ones lurking in the mountains back in the day.…
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Creating Visibility With Sound: Julius Rothlaender & Claire Paugam On ‘Vestur í bláinn’
Seemingly random, in front of wood paneling and amid shelves of books, an odd looking, torn, bright yellow dress hung in the Gerðuberg Library this month; almost like a phantom apparition. Made from stitched together rubber gloves, Ewa Marcinek’s art piece, ‘Second…
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Sombre Sparkle & Ghostly Glamour: Mighty Bear On New EP ‘Tveir’
One of the most ethereal faces of Iceland’s electronic music scene ironically hardly shows his face at all. That enigmatic figure, Mighty Bear a.k.a. Magnús Bjarni Gröndal, embodies both eerie darkness and sparkling glamor through extravagant cloaks and intricate masks, all underscored…
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Horror-Scopes: The Autumn Fog Reveals Your Fate
In Horror-Scopes, the Grapevine’s dedicated team of amateur astrologists give you their mystical visions on the dark fate that lies before you. The tea leaves have spoken! Aries The spirits demand their offering, Aries. An oath made in blood weighs as much…
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Bubble, Bubble, Toil, Trouble…And Eggs: A Day In Hveragerði
Just 45 kilometres from the capital, beyond an otherworldly lava field landscape and up and down a mountain, lies the small town of Hveragerði. Often clouded—both in mystery and steam—the countryside abode offers a plethora of interesting pandemic-safe possibilities. The quintessential Icelandic…
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Discussion About COVID-19 Rapid Tests
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is assessing COVID-19 antigen rapid tests that are supposed to show on-the-spot results in 15 to 30 minutes. According to the WHO, the tests developed by producers Abbott and SD Biosensor are “highly portable, reliable, and easy…
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Icelandic Economy Has A Chance Of Strong Recovery
Íslandsbanki’s new macroeconomic forecast predicts that if the COVID-19 epidemic is tackled by next summer, the Icelandic economy can still recover well. According to RÚV, the forecast covers the next two years and assumes that a vaccine against COVID-19 will be ready…
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Sheepdog Tímon Rescued From Ravine
Icelandic sheepdog Tímon had quite the misadventure this month when he first went missing on a hike with his owners and then fell down a six metre deep ravine. On September 16th, the Icelandic sheepdog disappeared whilst on a hike with his…
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All Crew Members Of Valdimar GK Diagnosed With COVID-19
All fourteen crew members of the liner Valdimar GK have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Jóhann K. Jóhannsson, communications director of the civil defense department, confirmed the situation in a conversation with Fréttablaðið. The ship had come ashore in Njarðvík on Sunday morning…
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Search Dogs Against COVID-19
The Chief of Police in Northwest Iceland is reported hoping to get specially trained search dogs against COVID-19 to the country if they continue to give good results abroad. According to a report by RÚV, the police have been in constant contact…
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Lucie Samcová Hall Allen New EU-Ambassador To Iceland
Lucie Samcová-Hall Allen has been appointed the new Ambassador of the European Union to Iceland. Lucie Samcová is from Prague in the Czech Republic and has worked for the European Union since 2005. RÚV reports that she has worked for the Council…
