this day in icelandic history — The Reykjavik Grapevine %

The Year of the Ox

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God Returns To Iceland Part 4The Lord had his heart set on destroying first Iceland, then the world, in punishment…

Joke Party Wins Elections in Reykjavík

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In the weeks leading up to the municipal elections, it seemed no one was interested. The media took almost no…

Best Backyard Ever

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“He is Árni Plúseinn and I am Árni Sveins. We made a film together.” The former, Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson, is…

City Elections: Holy Wow What Just Happened?

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Not everyone was chugging beer and watching Eurovision during the last Saturday of May, you know. Some of us were…

Art Love-In

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Villa Reykjavík to host galleries from all over EuropeIn July, the art world will come to Reykjavík, and some musicians…

Grapevine’s Fancy Eurovision Liveblog! UPDATE 22:20

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17:00… I´m not a religious man but the verse Proverbs 26:11 states. “As a dog returns to its vomit, so…

Grapevine’s Super-Duper Professional Municipal Election Liveblog! FINAL NUMBERS

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15:28: The final results of Reykjavík city elections are in. Of a possible 15 seats on city council, Jón Gnarr’s…

Terrified Politicians

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Icelanders are heading into their second elections since the economic collapse of October 2008. In April of last year, we…

The Unusual Suspects

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With the current eruption at Eyjafjallajökull rumbling on relatively steadily, producing an ash cloud that continues to wreak havoc with…

Dr Gunni History of Icelandic Music Rock Part 18

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Ahh… 1981. The best year in Iceland’s rock history. At least for me, a 15 year old whose life music…

What Are You Voting For, Reykjavík?

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Here at the Grapevine, we are all big fans of Jón Gnarr and his comedic stylings. We were amused when…

Hot Air And Solar Flares

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In a recent New Scientist article, “Get ready for decades of Icelandic fireworks,” volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðarson speculates this next active…

SIC Report: What The Locals Think

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Vigdís M. Sveinbjörnsdóttir Farmer, Egilsstaðir Has the economic crash changed your day-to-day life? No, no change in my life. Our…

From New Year To New Mountain

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It is 1 AM. My phone is going crazy. Emails and Facebook messages are flying around. Why? A volcano is…

Tourist Eruption Takes Heat Off Government

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Through the foreign media we learned that there was an emergency in Iceland. True, the main airports were closed, the…

Cannon Fodder

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I regularly read poetry to Aram, my infant son. He doesn’t “get it,” of course—no matter how I try to…

Fashion Distraction

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These are some designed, fashionable times we’re living in. Everyone seems to be looking their absolute best these days, what…

President of Maldives Visits Iceland Today

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Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed will visit Iceland today and Saturday. Nasheed will be acquainting himself with Iceland’s renewable energy and…

Davíð Oddsson On The Warpath

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In the summer of 2000 I met then leader of the British Conservative Party William Hague. The party was doing…

Dr. Gunni’s History Of Icelandic Rock Part 16

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Punk and new wave came late to Iceland. In 1979, all Icelandic records were still either disco, foamy pop or…

Letters from 3rd issue

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MOST AWESOME LETTER Dear  grapevine I’ve been living in Iceland for seven months and I am having the time of…