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Silent Night, Unholy Night
Four folktales for an unnerving Advent If you didn’t already know, Icelandic Christmas folklore is about as dark as Iceland at Christmastime. Surely you already know the season’s cast of characters. These range from the fairly light-hearted Yule Lads, who bring both…
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Know Your Yule Lad Basics: We Keep Getting Older, Yule Lads Stay The Same Age
In 2005, we were a struggling publication, and we decided to take a leap and detail the unique Icelandic Christmas tradition of Grýla, Leppalúði, and their children, the Yule Lads. Little did we know that our explanation of the characters from Jóhannes…
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The Reykjavík Grapevine Living Holiday Glossary
More than two decades of explaining the smells and bells of Christmas Since 2005, we have been attempting to help tourists and new Icelanders understand Christmas on this barren island. We have made very little progress. This is still a time of…
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Online Alcohol Merchants Closed By Police
The capital area police closed the operations of various alcohol merchants on December 26, RÚV and Vísir report. According to Icelandic alcohol laws, distribution and sale of liquor is prohibited during national holidays. The National Church’s official holidays during Christmas are December…
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Feast Like An Icelander, Holiday Edition
Taking a look at Icelandic holiday staples So, you wanna feast like an Icelander? I hope those pants you’re wearing are loose fit because after this, you’ll be so sad that you’ll spring. A traditional Icelandic Christmas meal, eaten and celebrated on…
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A Life In The Trees: Meet Christmas Tree Farmer Guðmundur Sigurðsson
For some, Christmas isn’t complete without snow, but for me there’s no festive season without a Christmas tree. In my quest to find an authentic, Iceland-grown Christmas tree, I reached out to Guðmundur Sigurðsson, a farmer who cultivates a pine forest in…
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Reykjavík’s Oslo Tree Felled In Heiðmörk
On Saturday, November 16, Reykjavík Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson felled this year’s Oslo Tree in Heiðmörk. Kitted with the necessary safety equipment, Einar was assisted by forester Sævar Hreiðarsson from the Reykjavík Forestry Association in sawing and felling the 13-metre-high tree. Upon closer…
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The Christmas Before The Nightmare: Charlie’s plan to combat Christmas creep
Darkness falls across the land, the dancing hour is close at hand. Grizzly ghouls go door to door, to spread the spooks from roof to floor. And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver, for no mere mortal…
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Ask An Expert: Why do Icelanders Honour The Dead on Christmas?
We turned to a historian and a cemetery curator for answers If you’ve ever spent the holiday season in Iceland and have walked around the urban areas, you’ve probably noticed how bright and colourful not just the homes of the living are,…
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IKEA Goat Is Up And Ready To Be Burned
The IKEA goat is an indicator that Christmas is just around the corner. Many consider it early, but the goat has already been set up near the only IKEA in Reykjavík, in Kauptún, and the lights have been lit, reports Vísir. For…
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Grapevine Events: Tertulia Festival, RVK Feminist Film Festival, Ólafur Kram & More
How is it basically half way through January already? Somehow we’ve broken all of our New Year’s resolutions, finished off our holiday chocolate — and yet we’re still only getting a scant five hours of daylight. Yeuch. Luckily we can’t stay down…
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Grapevine Events: New Year’s Punk, Ólöf Arnalds, and 13th day of Christmas Bonfires
Hello dear January blues, thank you so much for being kind enough to visit us again. While it’s been great seeing you every year, we feel it’s not a very healthy relationship. Besides, there are many fun things happening that we will…
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‘Tis The Season To Be Greedy
Countdown to Christmas with a Jólahlaðborð or two Grillið at Hotel Saga was the first ever to introduce Icelanders to a holiday buffet in 1980. Then hotel manager Wilhelm Wessman noticed the stark difference between restaurants in Copenhagen and Reykjavík in how they…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Jónsi & co, amiina, and MariaLing
It’s Friyay! It’s been freezing outside and we can’t wait to wake up not having to brave the windy weather on our way to the office. Luckily, it just so happens that these new music picks are perfect for those cold, cosy…
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Getting Ready For Jesus’ Birthday Party
Let the Christmas spirit fill the hollow inside Unless you live in a cave, it’s hard to avoid Christmas. Whether you affiliate with any religion or not, at some point, you’ll find yourself face-to-face with festive window displays, a crazy variety of…
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11 New Icelanders Born Over Christmas
In the midst of these pandemic times, it’s important to have hope. [su_pullquote]Enter a competition to win a box of Grapevine goodies! Just sign up for our newsletter here before 15:00 Icelandic time on New Year’s Eve, and answer the question in…
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One Company Sells Up To 800,000 Disks Of “Laufabrauð” Each Year
Gæðabakstur, perhaps best known to our readers as the bakers who provide renowned hot dog vendors Bæjarins Bestu with their buns, has one business that consistently does well every year: laufabrauð. [su_pullquote]Need a Christmas present pronto? Get the Iceland lover in your…
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Offering Home-Delivered Christmas Trees This Pandemic Holiday Season
With just three days to go until Christmas celebrations begin in Iceland, and with the Omicron variant keeping people especially cautious, RÚV reports that the annual Christmas tree sale offered by the Air Ground Rescue Team of Reykjavík (FBSR) will include home…
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Prisoners Awaken To Find Potatoes In Shoes
Prisoners at Litla-Hraun prison awoke yesterday morning to discover potatoes in their shoes, as reported by the prisoner advocacy group Afstaða on Facebook yesterday. [su_pullquote]Need a Christmas present pronto? Get the Iceland lover in your life a Grapevine online shop gift voucher,…
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Wow! Quirky Things Iceland Does Over Christmas
Although Icelandic Christmas traditions are often very similar to others in the western world, there are still some differences, quirks and oddities here and there. Many go back to our early Pagan society, but really that’s for your interpretation! We think all…
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Ísafjarðardjúpur Rescue Crew Creates Giant Christmas Tree
The rescue crew of the Gísli Jóns ship in Ísafjarðardjúpur created this giant Christmas tree, Fréttablaðið reports. The crew are part of the Landsbjörg Accident Prevention Association, which is a volunteer-led organisation. They shared photographs of the festive creation yesterday evening on…
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Three Icelandic Christmas Movies To Watch Over The Holidays
Icelandic filmmaking gets better every year. But while most Icelandic filmmakers are fond of dramas, they only occasionally pop out a Christmas movie. And even then, it’s barely a Christmas movie, but others compare macho nonsense like ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie,…
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SUPPORT THE HOLIDAY ECONOMY!: The Grapevine’s Last-Minute Gift Guide
We get it: You’ve got a lot on your mind. You forgot to get gifts. It’s December 21st. So let us lighten your metaphorical holiday load with the official Grapevine gift guide. We’ve got choices that everyone on your list is guaranteed…