this day in icelandic history — The Reykjavik Grapevine %

THE BEST OF REYKJAVÍK 2011

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Our annual BEST OF REYKJAVÍK LIST, 2K11 EDITION is finally here in all it’s listy listness. For the third year…

Bolungarvík Is The Bird Nerd’s Paradise

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When most visitors to Iceland—or really, most people living the capital area—think of the Westfjords, Ísafjörður is usually the first…

The Best Of Reykjavík : The Anarchist’s Edition

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An anarchist interested in history might want to take an ‘oppression tour’ around the city, checking out important power-symbols like…

Things They Like About Reykjavík

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While compiling our BEST OF REYKJAVÍK list, we consulted with a large group of people from all around town. Some…

Mackerel Mayhem And The Unholy Triangle

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Forty years ago, Iceland saw its last real spell of hard times before the crash of 2008. In 1968 it…

THE PEN WIELDER, THE POET AND THE ROGUE

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On June 17, Jón Sigurðsson will be the man of the day. This is Iceland’s ‘Independence Day’ with festivities all…

FM Belfast: “It’s Incredibly Boring to Be Cool”

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Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson and Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir are surprisingly fresh, considering that the day before they flew into Iceland after…

A Day In The Life Of Nanna Árnadóttir

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What’s up, Nanna? Workin’ my merkin to the ground, man (disclaimer: I don’t have a merkin). Got my day job,…

Icelandic Volcanism: Where, Why & How?

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Iceland sure has been in the global news a lot this past year or so and a lot of that…

OH NO! IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN!

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Farmer Erlendur Björnsson and his wife Þórunn Júlíusdóttir were in Reykjavík celebrating their son’s high school graduation when the subglacial…

Killer Volcanoes: A Comparative History

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Which country starting with the letter ‘I’ has caused the most international havoc due to volcanic eruptions in the modern…

THE CONSUMER’S REPUBLIC OF ICELAND

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The newspaper DV recently made considerable hay out of the fact that from 2005–2008 Iceland was the second largest market…

Racist? You Misunderstand

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Since May 8, when 53-year-old Iranian Medhi Kavyanpoor attempted self-immolation in the Icelandic Red Cross offices, intending to give up…

THE MASTER BUILDER, THE MINISTER AND THE CHURCH WE USED TO THINK WAS UGLY

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The idea of building a church on the hill called Skólavörðuholt was first broached as early as 1916. Architect Guðjón…

Sour Grapes And Stuff

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MOST AWESOME LETTER: Dear editor I travelled across the world in search of TARGETS FOR DEREGULTION. And in 2009 i…

Whom To Blame?

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Icelanders are upset. That may be an understatement, and it’s also unfortunate. The real unfortunate part is that they’re a…

Whale Watching Tourists Eating Whale

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Whale watching attracts more tourists than any other tourist activity in Reykjavík. Tourists who go whale watching are mostly against…

The Troubled History Of The Harp

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For many centuries Iceland was a country without music. There were no musical instruments; dancing was banned by the church,…

The Three Stages Of Integration

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I’ve lived in Iceland for nearly 12 years now, and have been a citizen for the last four. Along the…

WOULD-BE ICELANDERS

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THE SITUATION Stop me if you’ve heard this one: North American billionaires apply to Alþingi for instant Icelandic citizenship. They’re…

IS HARPA JUST A FAÇADE?

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The house Ólafur Elíasson built Like it or not, HARPA, Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre, is now open for…