Author: Elías Þórsson - The Reykjavik Grapevine

Word Of The Issue: Kvennabósi

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Around the year 1300, the Saga of Bósi and Herraud was written. It tells of the fantastic adventures of two…

Winds Of Up To 40 MPS Storm Hitting Iceland Today

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Winds up to 40 metres a second, rain, sleet and snow, but what else is new? It’s the most wonderful…

9 Year Old Rapper Takes Icelandic Hip Hop Scene By Storm

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“I am twenty six in fourth grade, the only one in this class with a beard”, those are the opening…

Sjón & Jón Kalman Among Likely Nobel Prize Winners

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Tomorrow, the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in literature will be announced and according to bookies our very own…

Alcohol Tax: Iceland Pay The Most In Europe

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With the proposed 2018 government budget, alcohol taxes will become the highest in Europe, the Icelandic Federation of Trade wrote…

Large American Flag Stolen In Siglufjörður Returned By Milkman

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A large American flag was stolen from a flagpole in the town Siglufjörður in the north of Iceland this weekend,…

31% Of Inmates Suicidal, 80% Addicted To Drugs

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Speaking at a conference hosted by SÁÁ, the National Centre of Addiction Medicine, Þrá­inn Farest­veit, director of the halfway house…

15-20 Thousand Icelanders Habitual Cannabis Users

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Around 15-20 thousand Icelanders, or around 5.2% of the total population, use cannabis regularly, according to Helgi Gunn­laugs­son, a professor…

5 Icelanders Stuck At Mandalay Bay Casino: “People Scattered & Ran”

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Five Icelanders from the company NetApp were attending a conference in Las Vegas and were staying at the Mandalay Hotel…

Pirate Party Voters Least Neighbourly Icelanders

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A new poll by Market and media research has found that 87.8% of Icelanders are happy with their neighbours, but…

Morgunblaðið Goes Full On Xenophobia With Miserable Cartoon

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Iceland’s oldest newspaper Morgunblaðið went further in its strange spiral into weirdness today with what is possibly the most xenophobic…

Serious Flooding In East Iceland Causing Widespread Damages

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Yesterday, following heavy rains Jökulsá river in the Eastfjords overflowed its banks causing widespread damage to property and disruption. More…

Hurrah, More Oversized Ugly Puffin Dolls!

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A common complaint you hear from tourists and locals alike is that there aren’t enough puffin dolls available. The Grapevine…

Growing Food Shortages In Isolated Westman Islands

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With shipping to and from Heimaey seriously disrupted, the island chain’s only populated island, supermarkets have started to look deserted,…

Former Foreign Minister: Helping Sheep Farmers As Important As Helping Refugee Children

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Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, Framsóknarflokkurinn MP and former Foreign Minister, used the last day of parliament to equate the plight of…

Google Translate Icelandic News: Spanish Balls & Ripped Off Jaws

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Icelandic news are interesting (somewhat), Google Translate is amazing, but together they make for a strange and confusing cocktail. Therefore,…

As Many Tourists Stay Airbnb As In Hotels In Reykjavík

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In the first eight months of 2017, 43% of overnight stays in Reykjavík were in Airbnb apartments and rooms, according…

Tourist Risks Her Life For A Picture At Gullfoss

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A foreign tourist felt the urge to put her life on the line to catch that perfect Instagram picture at…

Word Of The Issue: Útlenska

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This word basically means “foreign languages,” but not quite. It is an expression that linguistically splits all languages into Icelandic…

Legalisation Of Cannabis Proposed In Parliament

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Pawel Bartozek, an MP for the Reform Party, has put forth a bill for parliament, which would legalise the consumption…

The Hveragerði Cat Killer Continues Killing Spree: Mutilated Cat Discovered

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The little town of Hveragerði is one of many quaint little roadside towns in Iceland. It is the first town…

Beloved Author Sigurður Pálsson Dead

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One of Iceland’s most beloved poets Sigurður Pálsson has died at the age of 69, following a lengthy battle with…

Rubbed Shit On Tourist’s Windshield To Protest Outdoor Pooping

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A resident in the small village Vogar á Vatnsleysuströnd right outside Reykjavík, reached his limit this morning when he found…

Dead Mouse In Salad Leads To Hospitalisation, Owner Says It Was Planted

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Last weekend, a man sought medical attention after finding a dead mouse in his salad at the restaurant Fresco–which specialises…

Latest Polls – Independence Party Drops 6% Following Scandal

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On October 28, Icelanders will take to the polling booths–a year and a day since the last time–in an atmosphere…