this day in icelandic history — The Reykjavik Grapevine %

Five Icelandic Christmas Songs That Don’t Suck

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Like we noted in last year’s Straumur Xmas Special, the holidays can be hard on the ears for folks who…

NASA Saved! Sort Of

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Iceland’s Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, has decreed that the hall inside former Icelandic club and community centre, NASA, is…

All Highly Unlikely

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Debates on Monday #10The freedom fighter Last things first: Styrmir Gunnarsson, former editor of Morgunblaðið, has published his memoirs from…

Future Perfect

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Poetry as gateway to mainstream literary success?On “The Story Island,” a fresh young crop of writers is busy carving out…

OMG! Bookflood Is Coming

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‘Tis the season to buy one of 800 new Icelandic books for your friends and familyIcelandic winter really, really sucks….

Grísalappalísa: Get Behind Me, Stuðmenn!

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Winners of the ‘BEST LIVE BAND’ category of our second annual music awards, Grísalappalísa, just unleashed a cover of a…

One Day in October (During Master’s Month)

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What exactly is a “Meistaramánuður”? On the occasion of the last day of October, known by some as “Master’s Month,” blogger…

Icelandic “Kokteilsósa” Origin Called Into Question

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Iceland’s ubiquitous kokteilsósa (“cocktail sauce”) did not come from Iceland, as was recently asserted, but variations of the condiment can…

The Bizarre Inclusion Of Glíma In 1912 Olympics

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And “The Silliest Decision” In Icelandic Sports History Eight Years Later“Among the wonders of Icelandic sports history is how we…

Keeping The Romance Alive

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Mexicans: They’re Everywhere- Part 3In our third and final instalment of “Mexicans: They’re Everywhere,” we meet Libertad Venegas. Prior to…

Iceland Gears Up For 100th Anniversary Of Women’s Vote

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It has been 99 years since women gained the right to vote in Iceland and celebratory plans are already underway,…

So What’s This Men’s Only UN Gender Conference I Keep Hearing About?

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On Monday, September 29, the Icelandic Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly….

The Endless Bubble Of Overblown Expectations

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In the spring of 2007, when the Icelandic financial bubble was reaching its peak, the Ministry of Industry held a…

Ptarmigan Hunting Unsustainable

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An ecologist for The Icelandic Institute of Natural History (IINH) has released a report on ptarmigans, with one conclusion being…

Breathing Life Into Arts Education

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LungA School seeks to empower students with a creative, bilateral learning processWith university becoming more expensive in many parts of…

Poltergeists Claim State Radio

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Debates on Monday #4My field of vision must be limited and my perspective biased because it seems that the most…

Ravens Disembowel Lamb, Farmer Plots Revenge

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A conspiracy of ravens killed a little speckled lamb on Tuesday, at the farm Skjaldfönn in the Westfjörds, Ísafjörður newssite BB.is reports….

Quarashi’s Music Video Odyssey

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“It’s a strange combination of both people and music, you know?” Quarashi is an Icelandic rap group founded in the…

Icelanders in Moscow

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Life is far from grim in the Russian capitalAs a British-Icelander working in Moscow from autumn 2013 to early spring…

Owning it

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Icelandic Rappers Stamp Their Personality Onto Hip HopIn a crumbling old building on the outskirts of central Reykjavík, a dust-covered,…

Back To Basics

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Brynja Pétursdóttir And Natasha Monay Royal Bring Street Dance To Iceland, One Step At A TimeAlthough contemporary hip hop culture…