Iceland Roundup: Drinking, Laxness, New Icelandic Names, Eurovision, Israel & 1970s Murder Case

The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to round up the stories making headlines in recent weeks.

In this episode, we cover:

A man was evicted from a Reykjavík library after being caught drinking alcohol in the bathroom on Friday. Police commented that drinking in the library was not considered appropriate “library etiquette”;

Novels by Halldór Laxness, Iceland’s only Nobel Prize laureate, will soon no longer be included in the national school curriculum;

The Icelandic Naming Committee has approved five new names that Icelanders can now use: Tenchi, Ivy, Ýri, Meryem, and Múhameð — the Icelandic spelling of Mohammed;

Margrét Kristín Blöndal, known as Magga, arrived in Amsterdam this past weekend after being released from Israeli custody. She was arrested last Wednesday along with other members of the so-called Freedom Fleet, who were attempting to deliver aid to Gaza by sea. A ceasefire has since been declared in Gaza. Coincidentally, the foreign minister of Palestine, Dr Varsen Aghabekian, was in Iceland when the ceasefire was announced;

A recent poll conducted in September found that 67% of participants believe Iceland should not take part in next year’s Eurovision if Israel is allowed to participate. Younger people were less likely to support a withdrawal, while those living outside Reykjavík were more inclined than capital residents to favour a boycott;

In 1974, two men, Guðmundur and Geirfinnur, disappeared within ten months of each other. The case led to numerous arrests and lengthy prison sentences, but significant doubt remains over whether those convicted were actually guilty.