Help? Call Grapevine! Iceland Airwaves, October Snow Storm, And Grýla

We have a storied tradition of responding to requests for information in this magazine, usually relying on Charlie Winters, who knows things and knows words. The world is complex, however. Due to circumstances well beyond our control, we are answering the questions without Charlie, but only temporarily.

su_aendra asks, “Have you planned anything for Airwaves?”

We planned an enormous amount for Airwaves in the same way a five-year-old might plan for a Disney vacation. Like a five-year-old, our imagination far exceeded our budget. However, we will be hosting writers interested in learning about music journalism, so if you see someone with a Grapevine press pass, please be generous. We will be doing our best to cover every venue this year, posting reviews the evening the events happen. Please tune in to grapevine.is before, during and after Airwaves.

heidimunc asks, “Are more people happy or sad about the early snow?”

Because there was still sun, we were happy with this snowfall. It is the December snow, when there is no sunlight, that brings the sadness. You’ll see. Our office neighbour described the winter mood as follows: “You notice the shadow, and then the shadow is everything.”

lobstaman asks, “Which is the best hill for sledding?”

Whatever you can walk to. Nobody’s ploughing here. Also, pretty hard to walk because nobody shovels either.

Brahim asks, “Why is Snorri and Reykholt not a bigger tourist site for other nationalities than the Norwegians?”

You’re referring to Snorri Sturluson who wrote the great sagas, including the Snorra Edda and my personal favourite Egils Saga (allegedly). Why is this author who wrote some of the world’s finest literature in the 13th century not a big tourist focus? I assume because Snorri used words.

Reykholt is Snorri’s place of work and horrific death. Also not a destination because it relates to words. However, Vesturbæjarlaug in Reykjavík has a cold tub directly modeled on the hot tub in which Snorri met his death. I’ve seen tourists there. From Seltjarnarnes.

Scott asks, “How do Icelanders feel about the possibility of an American military presence again?”

I’m an American editor. Best I don’t comment. Please come back, Charlie.

Scott again: “Has the global attention on the eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula been more of a nuisance than anything else?”

Mostly, it’s been fine. The BBC describing Grindavík as a ghost town on October 17, 2025, was distasteful, and poorly timed, as their mayor had just begun bringing sporting events back to the town. Ghost town is a curious journalistic term, and I assume it could apply to anywhere. London may be a ghost town based on all the young children who worked themselves to death there. The British Museum could be a goblin den based on all the theft and on the curious odours. I can’t remember how journalism works with make-believe descriptors in headlines. Other than colonialist journos, then, it’s been fine.

Scott for the hat trick: “Skálmöld, Sigur Rós, Of Monsters and Men, Kælan Mikla, Laufey? How does a country so small keep cranking out so much musical talent?”

You forgot Björk. What the fuck? How does someone forget Björk in a list of Icelandic musicians? You know who didn’t forget Björk, and who has a take on all of this, Arnar Eggert, the tireless music critic who wrote our cover feature. He also just released a book, Iceland Pop: Then, Today, Tomorrow, Next Week, out now on Reaktion Books/The University of Chicago Press.

But I have more. A completely different answer to this question. The reason for the musicality may have to do with something called samsöngur, an actual thing that happens in which schools gather and sing together. For my daughters, this happens every Friday. My older daughter has explained that all the kids sing correctly, and from their diaphragm, as though they have been trained. Because they learn this by doing it every week for the first eight years of school. An astonishing thing. I can’t say enough about how outstanding this activity is, not just for teaching music, but for building community. Oops, I forgot the snark.

Marcin asks, “I want You guys write about me and my artworks what I should do?”

We get many requests to write about art and music. Please keep emailing us, and we’ll get to it. We have a very limited staff. But we want to cover everything.

T Ross asks, “Does Grýla have any good Yule recipes? ”

Grýla eats children. We don’t even have milk for coffee in our office because so much of the staff is vegan, so no, we don’t have recipes for eating people. If, however, we reach that dystopian future where we end up rooming with Edward G. Robinson rationing soylent green, I guess we’d eat whatever the powder was and give thanks to Grýla. Also, why am I only now realising that Grýla eats children on Christmas, and that the sacrament of communion involved eating the son of god, so that if you squint really hard at the story of Grýla it seems to follow a confused reading of Roman Catholic teaching? Please come back, Charlie.

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