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Editorial: Iceland Airwaves – Still Going Strong!
Iceland Airwaves finished last weekend with a folksy bang and an artistic flair. Those who wanted to see the folk band Mumford & Sons had to dive into the first storm of the winter in Iceland, just to listen to those friendly…
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The Unexpected Sound: Four Female Composers At Iceland Airwaves
The Iceland Symphony Orchestra played for the sixth time at Iceland Airwaves last night. All of the composers in the programme, and the conductor, were women. The guests were not the usual guests you’d expect to see at these kinds of concerts—two…
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Editorial: The War On Media
Before Donald Trump, there was guy called Davíð Oddsson. He was the prime minister of Iceland, the chairman of the Independence party and is remembered today as one of the most important architects of the total failing of the Icelandic banking system…
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We are idiots
Iceland’s largest newspaper, Fréttablaðið, published an interesting poll on its frontpage in the beginning of October. The poll was based on the question of what voters thought were the most important political issue before the election which is due to occur in…
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Brutal Headlines
So, the government collapsed in Iceland. Again. For the third time last ten years, in fact. The reasons are a little bit intangible. In a nutshell, this is a story about secretiveness, the weird connections between the father of our Prime Minister…
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MPs Refused To See The Testimonies For Paedophiles
All MPs of the Independence Party and members of the Constitutional and Supervisory Committee refused to have a look at vital information about the restored honour of convicted rapist when the committee was addressing the case. Many were surprised at the reaction…
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Retirement Home For Houses: And Something About Swastikas.
The house at Þingholtsstræti 9 wasn’t removed because someone sprayed a swastika on it, although that is what you were thinking, right? No, dummy, the house was removed because of age discrimination. It was concerned way too old and way too useless…
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Ordered To Remove Candy From Esja
The Icelandic candy factory Nói Síríus was ordered to remove an illegal box of cereal bars that they placed close to the top of famed mountain Esja in Reykjavík. The ceral bars were free, but to get one you had to walk…
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Food Fighters
Icelanders are, as you might have noticed, very proud of their heritage. We are in fact somewhat obsessed with it. But there is one thing that the Icelandic nation doesn’t mention very often when it comes down to history, and that’s food.…
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Island Life: Hot Local News From All Corners Of Iceland
A partygoer was busted with a joint at a “freshman-ball” at Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja in Reykjanesbær. The police crashed the ball with a sniffer dog which marked the unlucky person. The kid was brought down to the police station where the police took…
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Grumpy Swans Destroy Indian Drone
A couple of malevolent swans in the Westfjords of Iceland showed some Indian tourist that they are not to be messed with. Found footage showed a violent attack on a drone that had found itself in the wrong neighbourhood. Bergsveinn Reynisson, a…
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Troubled Party Fights For Pets At Restaurants
The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Björt Ólafsdóttir, announced this weekend that she is going to present a bill to parliament to grant the legalisation of pets to be allowed inside restaurants and cafés. The announcement was made at the…
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Reykjavík Of Yore: A Towering Artist
Although we at Grapevine can be cynical about art, life and the purpose of everything—some people even think we are disrespectful or flat out rude about these things—there is one guy we deeply respect. The sculptor Einar Jónsson has carved the Icelandic…
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Editorial: Silly Season With A Taste Of Cucumber
There are two news stories I remember reading in the past two weeks. One was about a twenty-something makeup artist who went shopping and couldn’t find any clothes in her size. This is obviously an irritating problem, and we honestly do feel…
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News: The Top Stories, July 14th–July 27th
It’s been a dry two weeks here up North, news wise, and for a weekend the weather decided to mirror the country’s peaceful state of affairs with a sunny demeanour and more warmth we’ve seen in months. Those living in Akureyri and…
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Forty To Fifty Earthquakes In Southern Iceland, Tremors Felt In Reykjavík
The people of Reykjavík felt an earthquake around 11:40 this morning. The Icelandic Met office (Veðurstofa íslands) reported that they recorded an earthquake north-east of Fagradalsfjall at Reykjanes, near Keflavík and the international airport of Iceland. The magnitude of the earthquake was…
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Reykjavík Of Yore: A Spinning Political Monument
Perlan in Öskjuhlíð is some kind of Icelandic version of a Ferris wheel. The restaurant on top of the old tanks where Reykvíkingar used to store their hot water turns slowly, so guests can see the whole city from their seat if…
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The Hip-Hop Industry Needs To Check Themselves Before They Wreck Themselves
The last issue of the Reykjavík Grapevine was met with some harsh criticism. People on social media raised some good points, objecting to the fact that there were no women in Grapevine’s cover story on Iceland’s newest hip-hop artists. Later, some members…
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We Need To Talk About The Water Closet
For decades now, the Icelandic nation has successfully been using something called a toilet. Some call it a bathroom. But if you want to be really posh, you can say you’re going into the water closet. To be honest, Icelanders haven’t been…
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Reykjavík Of Yore: From Mundane To Watergate
Well, to be honest, the story of Háteigskirkja is painfully uninteresting. This is probably not the best way to start an article, but bear with me, because this article will unexpectedly end with Watergate (sorry to ruin the suspense). The church was…
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The PR Generation
I consider myself lucky in a way that I didn’t grow up with constant internet connectivity. When I was a child I got bored sometimes. When I didn’t know the answer to a question, I didn’t google it, I just rang my…
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How to Become Icelandic in 60 Minutes: Rude, Drunk and Boundlessly Optimistic
Are Icelanders just like everyone else or are they a little, well… special? This show, which purports to teach you how to become Icelandic, addresses what constitutes particularly Icelandic behaviour. All the obvious stuff is here. We eat sheep’s balls (although this…
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Weird Flag Ceremony At Eurovision Probably A Violation Of Icelandic Law
Icelandic singer and Eurovision hopeful Svala Björgvinsdóttir participated in a weird flag ceremony in Kiev in Ukraine last Sunday, in honour of Eurovision, which is to be held tonight. The singer posted a video on Facebook where she walks to the smartly-dressed…
