All Things Iceland

To kick off my comeback to podcasting, I am sharing an awesome interview I did with Andie Fontaine, the News Editor of The Reykjavík Grapevine. Andie is originally from Baltimore. They have been living in Iceland since 1999 and has Icelandic citizenship. We dive into what it has been like for Andie to learn Icelandic, their views on immigration, coming out as transgender and many other fascinating topics.

By the way, we did this interview at the office of the Reykjavík Grapevine, so there is some background noise at times.

I hope you enjoyed listening to this interview. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Icelandic food culture is deeply rooted in Scandinavian cuisine. As I mentioned in the “Brief History of the Icelandic language” episode, Iceland was settled mostly by farmers from Norway along with Vikings and some Celtic people who were made slaves after being captured by those Vikings . These Scandinavian people brought with them their cooking traditions and farming lifestyle. However, there is not much evidence of Celtic influence in Icelandic cooking.

During those medieval times, settlers grew barley and oats and raised mainly cattle.They also raised other animals, like sheep, horses, pigs, chickens and goats.

The rivers in the country provided fresh water fish and people with boats could venture out to the sea to catch cod, haddock and other variety of saltwater fish. Fish was either eaten fresh or stored in salt and then dried. The salt was made by boiling salt water or burning seaweed. However, firewood in Iceland was used up  quickly in most areas of the country, so dried salted fish was eventually phase out. Drying fresh fish in the wind was the dominant way of preserving this food, which is still done today to make harðfiskur. Meat was also preserved in fermented whey. Fermentation of shark, skate and herring still happen today.

One would assume that there were a lot of fishing villages in Iceland since the beginning of when it was settled, but that was not the case. The farmers that settled there seemed to be stubbornly devoted to cultivating crops in such a harsh climate. Some were even opposed to fishing villages, mainly because fishing was considered a lot more risky when compared to farming. However, this didn’t stop people from fishing or consuming that food. While stockfish was used for trading with other countries, Iceland wasn’t heavily relying on fishing to fuel their economy until the 20th century. Meat and dairy products were what primarily made up the Icelandic diet for many centuries.

Like many western cultures, Icelandic people love cheese and other dairy products. For centuries, they have been creating cheese from goat, sheep or cow’s milk. Interestingly, skyr, a food that Iceland is known for is said to have come from Norway but it seems that it fell off as a food in Norway, but  it never disappeared from the Icelandic diet. The leftover whey from skyr was allowed to sour and then was used to preserve meat. As I mentioned in my Top 10 Icelandic foods to try episode, skyr is classified as a cheese, even though people, including myself, call it yogurt. Check out that episode to find out what the other foods are.

From settlement times until the 14 century, Icelandic people used to live in longhouses that placed the kitchen in the center of the house in order to heat it up. Earth ovens were used for making bread and cooking meat. During sometime in the 14th century, those longhouses were replaced by turf houses. These houses were smaller and the kitchen had its own room with a raised stone or hearth. Hooks were hung from above to hold pots at the desired height from the fire. During this time there was also shift from eating  two meals a day to eating three.

During medieval times, grains were more easily incorporated into the Icelandic diet. On average, it was a warmer time, which allowed for barley and other grains to be grown in Iceland. However, that all changed when the country and other parts of Europe and North America experienced a  “Little Ice Age”. The cooler climate started in the 14th century and continued until halfway through the 19 century. While there is some debate about why this cooling period happened, some causes that have been proposed include more volcanic activity, changes in the ocean circulation, cyclical lows in solar radiation, as well as variations in the Earth’s orbit and axial tilt. The colder climate made it harder to yield a lot of grain and Icelandic people started to depend more on trade to get access to different grains.

Merchant ships from many European countries would stop in Iceland to trade a variety of items such as stale beer, biscuits, grains and chewing tobacco for Icelandic stockfish, also known as harðfiskur, and knitted wool. However, in 1602 the Danish King created a trade monopoly in Iceland by forcing Icelandic people to only buy from Danish merchants. While illegal trade did continue, this trade monopoly directly impacted the type of grain and cereal Icelandic people had access to.

One result from the monopoly, is that Icelandic farmers started to grow a type of rye that was mostly found in Denmark. This rye was used to make Brennivín, Icelandic schnapps, and rúgbrauð, a dark and kind of sweet rye bread made in this country. Another result from the monopoly imposed by the Danish King is the influence of Denmark on Iceland’s food culture. The first written cookbooks in Iceland were published in the 18th century and were a collection of Danish recipes. Most of Iceland’s traditional cookie and cake recipes come from Denmark. Funny enough, some Danish baking traditions are still practiced in Iceland but have died out in Denmark.

In the late 1700s, the monopoly had dissolved because the ban on buying from other merchants had been lifted. Unfortunately, a mere ten years later, Laki erupted. This was the most devastating volcanic eruption that Iceland has experienced, so far, since it was settled in the 9 century. Crops, livestock and a large part of the population were wiped out. While this was devastating for the country, the people pushed on. I dedicated a full podcast episode to this eruption because it was so devastating, Check out the link in the show notes to listen to it.

In the early 1800s, the Napoleonic Wars kept merchant ships from reaching Iceland. This sparked a movement toward self reliance in the country. People started to focus on producing and consuming locally grown food. There was also a move in the 1900s toward preserving traditional Icelandic methods. Home economic schools for women were created around the country and the culinary traditions that were written down emphasized fresh ingredients, especially from the sea. Between the 19th and 20th century is when Iceland saw the major shift from a mainly meat and dairy diet to one that included more fish and vegetables.

A little before World War 1, is when Iceland started to fish on an industrial scale and fish in the country was quite cheap. Fishing villages popped up around the country and Icelanders started eating a lot of fish. In fact, up until the 1990’s they were consuming more fish per capita than any other European country.

Even though fish was all the rage, there were some people in the country that didn’t want to completely abandon consuming the traditional food that their ancestors ate to survive during the settlement times. During the 1940s, regional associations were formed in Reykjavík that organized regional midwinter festivals that served fermented shark, lambs head and other traditional foods in a buffet.

These festivals eventually became Þorrablót, which are celebrated during the month of Þorri. If you are curious about other holidays in Iceland, I talk more about Þorrabót in my podcast episode about Icelandic traditions, holidays and celebrations. I’ll have a link to it in the show notes of this episode if you want to check it out.

World War 2 brought a lot of changes to Iceland. The occupation by the British in 1940 resulted in fish and chips shops opening up in Reykjavík. When the U.S. military took over in 1941, the soldiers brought hamburgers and other food that was known to most Icelandic people. This time period is what eventually sparked the growth of U.S. fast food culture in this country.

Even though Icelandic people could get foreign food downtown, they were still eating Danish influenced food at home. Two very popular cookbooks at the time were Matreiðslubók fyrir fátæka og ríka (A Cookbook for Poor and Rich; the subsequent editions were just called Matreiðslubók) by Jónina Sigurðarsdóttir and Matur og Drykkur by Helga Sigurðardóttir. Both women had been educated in Denmark but there is an Icelandic twist to their recipes.

For many years, vegetables were seen as a supplement in the Icelandic diet. They were good for making real food last longer when you couldn’t afford to buy more meat or fish. However, Matur og Drykkur cookbook helped to introduce more vegetable varieties into Icelandic homes. Potatoes were considered a staple in the Icelandic diet and some Icelandic people today believe that their meal is not complete if it does not have potatoes in it. One thing that I find quite fascinating is that use of spices was still quite limited. Paprika was being used during the 1940’s but not a lot of dry herbs. Some fresh herbs, like parsley, chives and dill, were used in meals but that was about it.

During the 1960’s is when traveling abroad started to become more popular in Iceland. This allowed for Icelandic people to be introduced to a variety of foods, including shrimp cocktail sauce. It might seem strange but Icelandic people are big fans of cocktail sauce, and sauces in general. The Icelandic version is used in many different recipes.

The increase in growing and eating more vegetables in Iceland started in the 1970’s. In 1977, about 8,000 tons of vegetables had been produced. That number jumped up to 30,000 tons in 2007. Thankfully, Iceland’s cold climate reduces the need for pesticides to be used by farmers. Most, if not all, vegetables that are produced on a mass scale are grown in greenhouses in Iceland.

Cabbage, turnips, rutabaga, tomatoes and cucumbers were grown and sold. While bananas were grown in Iceland for a short time, most fruit is imported. You can pick and eat delicious wild blueberries during the summer here. The 20th century brought better temperatures in Iceland for growing barley. This was the first time since the Middle Ages that it was possible to grow this grain for human consumption in Iceland.

The 1980’s is when a lot of new restaurants in Iceland started to pop up. Previous to this, eating out was not a huge part of the culture unless it was a special occasion.

While Icelandic people do appreciate and celebrate their traditional food history and culture, modern day cuisine emphasizes local and fresh food that is infused with creativity. It also has a lot more vegetables. Restaurants like Nostra, Kol, Fiskmarkaðurinn, and Matarkjallarinn are serving up fine dining experiences with a modern Icelandic twist. Here is a link to TripAdvisor’s list of the best food restaurants based on your budget.

Nostra in Reykjavík

What I find fascinating is the selection of food available for people from different cultures, diet restrictions and lifestyles. So many restaurants have vegan and vegetarian options on their menus. I have seen many gluten free products in the supermarkets and I even recently saw a keto item on the menu at Gló, an Icelandic restaurant that serves delicious, fresh and healthy food. While Icelandic based cuisine still dominates the eating culture here, it is very easy to find pizza, burgers, dishes from different Asian countries and a variety of food imported from around the world. I think it is great that Icelandic people are preserving many of their traditions regarding food but are still being open to accepting and trying different foods.

In Icelandic homes, local game meat has become more popular and people are using new methods to cook traditional meals. While lamb is still consumed, many people are buying a lot more chicken than lamb. Fish is eaten quite a bit but it is usually not eaten multiple times a day as it was during the time period when eating fish was at its all time high in Iceland.

The horses and sheep in Iceland have been raised in isolation since medieval times. Some people call them the settlement breed or viking breed. Icelandic law prohibits importing horses into the country and any horse that has been exported are not allowed to come back. This prevents diseases that could be present in animals that live outside of the country from spreading to animals that live in Iceland.

Icelandic word of the episode = Bygg

I hope you enjoyed this episode that is chock full of information about the evolution of Icelandic food culture. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Even though, English is widely spoken in Iceland, I think these words and phrases will certainly come in handy if you plan to visit or if you already live here and want to learn the language.  Even if you don’t have Iceland on your bucket list, I find it is a fascinating language to listen to, especially since it has not evolved much since the 12th  century. For anyone that is curious about the history of the Icelandic language check out the podcast episode I did about it.

If you find yourself interested in learning more Icelandic words and phrases after listening to this episode, head over to my Instagram account @Foreign2familiar. I teach a new Icelandic word or phrase in my Instagram stories every day.

Before I jump into the useful phrases, I want to point out that there are some letters in Icelandic that do not exist in English and they are the following:

Æ

ö

Ð – a “th” such as in weather

þ – a”th” sound that is unvoiced

Á

Í

Ý

I am not going to go over every word in the Icelandic alphabet because that would make this episode much longer. However, I have included a cute Youtube video below about how to pronounce Icelandic letters.

One simple rule to remember when saying Icelandic words is that the stress falls on the first syllable of a word.

I am going to start off with the most widely used words and phrases that are helpful when you are interacting with a person that speaks Icelandic. Then, I will move on to words and phrases to know when at a restaurant. Following that are useful words if a problem arises (such as needing the police, if you are sick and so on).  The third section are words about common signs in Iceland. Lastly, are words for service places and titles of professionals that you might need, such as a doctor. Ok, now let’s jump into some Icelandic.

Já – Yes

Jú  – Yoo and it is used for answering a negative question

Nei – No

Góðan daginn or Goðan dag  – Good morning or Good afternoon. Commonly used at any time before 6 PM

Sæll – Hello (informal, to a man).

Sæl – Hello (informal, to a woman).

Hæ – Hi (pronounced just like the English word)

Gott kvöld or Goða kvöldið – Good evening – commonly used after 6 PM

Ég heiti ______ – My name is ______

Gaman að kynnast þér – Nice to meet you.

Hvað segirðu gott? – How are you? or literally What say you good?

Ég segi allt gott, þakka þér fyrir – Fine, thank you.

Hvað heitirðu?  – What is your name?

Ég er frá – I am from

Weirdly enough, Icelandic people don’t have a word for “please”. The closest word they have is vinsamlegast, which means kindly.

Gjörðu svo vel, (to one person) or Gerið þið svo vel (to many people) – Here you are or if you please

Takk fyrir or Takk – Thank you.

Ekkert að þakka or Ekkert mál – You’re welcome.

Afsakið – Excuse me, (getting someone’s attention).

Fyrirgefðu – Excuse me, (begging pardon).

Ha? – I’m sorry, if you didn’t hear what they said

Því miður – I’m sorry, (regretful)

Bless or bless bless – Goodbye

Bæ – Bye

Góða nótt – Good night.

Sofðu vel – Sleep well

Ég skil ekki – I don’t understand.

Gætirðu talað hægar? – Could you speak more slowly?

Ég tala ekki íslensku- I can’t speak Icelandic

Ég tala ekki íslensku svo vel – I can’t speak Icelandic so well

Talarðu ensku? – Do you speak English?

Er einhver hér sem talar ensku? – Is there someone here who speaks English?

Hvernig segir maður _____ á íslensku? – How do you say _____ in Icelandic?

Ég tala ensku, spænsku, þysku, og smá íslensku – I speak English, Spanish, German and a little Icelandic.

Ok – Allt í lagí or ókei (used among the younger generations)

Hvar er klósettið? – Where is the toilet?

Hvar er _______ ? – Where is _______?

Hvað kostar það? – What does it cost?

Ég ætla að fá…  – I would like…

Áttu til…?  – Have you got any…?

Meira  – More

Meira takk – More, thanks or more, please

Ekki meira takk  – No more, thank you

Mjög gott  – Very good

Ég er grænmetisæta  – I am vegetarian

Ég er vegan – I am  vegan

I am vegan. Well more aptly, I am a plant based eater and have been for almost 5 years. I have no issues with finding food in Iceland. In fact, many restaurants have vegan options on the menu. If you are not sure, just call the restaurant to make sure.

Reikninginn, takk   – The bill, please

Skál – cheers!

Matseðill  – Menu

Forréttir  – Starters or appetizers

Súpa – Soup

Brauð – Bread

Smjör – Butter

Sósa  – Sauce

Hangikjöt –   Smoked lamb

Svínakjöt –   Pork

Kjöt –  Meat

Lambakjöt – Lamb

Nautakjöt –   Beef

Kjúklingur – Chicken

Fiskur – Fish

Þorskur – Cod

Lax –  Salmon

ýsa –  Haddock

Lúda –  Halibut

Rækjur – Prawns or shrimp

Silungur/Bleikja –  Trout

Kartöflur –   Potatoes

Franskar –  fries or chips

Blómkál –  Cauliflower

Grænar baunir –  Peas

Rauðkál –  Red cabbage

Sveppir – Mushrooms

Gulrætur –  Carrots

Salat –  Salad

Agurka -Cucumber

Tomat – tomato

ís  – Ice-cream

Kaka/Terta –  Cake

Te –  Tea

Kaffi – Coffee

Mjólk – Milk

Sykur  – Sugar

Appelsínusafi – Orange juice

Bjór –  Beer

Pilsner – Low-alcohol beer

Hvítvín – White wine

Rauðvín – Red wine

Vatn –  Water

Kampavín – champagne

Hjálp! – Help!

Varúð!- Look out!

Farðu í burtu. Or just “farðu” – Leave me alone.

Ekki snerta mig! – Don’t touch me!

Ég kalla á lögregluna – I’ll call the police.

Lögregla! Police!

Stopp! Þjófur! – Stop! Thief!

Ég þarf smá hjálp – I need a little help.

Það er áríðandi. – It’s an emergency.

Ég er týndur (male) – I’m lost.

Ég er týnd (female) – I’m lost.

Taskan mín er týnd. – My bag is missing.

Seðlaveskið mitt er týnt. – My wallet is missing.

Ég er veikur (male) – I’m sick.

Ég er veik (female)- I’m sick.

Ég er særður – I’ve been injured.

Ég þarf lækni – I need a doctor.

Má ég nota símann þinn? Can I use your phone?

Snyrting – Toilet

Opið – Open

Lokað – Closed

Hætta – Danger

Bannað – Forbidden

Tjaldstæði – Campsite

Sundlaug – Swimming pool

Inngangur/Inn – Entry

Útgangur/út – Exit

Bílastæði – Parking

Áætlun – Schedule

Flugvöllur – Airport

Blindhæð – Blind summit (road sign)

Jeppavegur – Jeep track

Lögreglan – Police

Sjúkrahús – Hospital

Heilsugæslustöð – Health Centre

Læknir – Doctor

Tannlæknir – Dentist

Banki – Bank

Hraðabanki – ATM

Póstur – Post Office

Apótek – Chemist  or pharmacy

Verkstæði – Mechanic/garage

Now that you’ve learned some useful Icelandic words and phrases, I am going to move on to the random fact about Iceland

Shockingly, at least it was shocking to me, is that Icelandic was only named as the official language of Iceland in 2011! That same year, Icelandic Sign Language was also recognized and became the first official language of Iceland’s deaf community.

One of the most Icelandic words you can say is Jæja. It is translates to “well” but it can convey so much more than that. Depending on how you say it, you can get across a whole range of emotions. The Reykjavík Grapevine published a hilarious video about how to have a full conversation in Icelandic using only 3 words.

I hope you enjoyed this episode. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

This week is a bit different than my normal episodes because I am going to share why I moved to Iceland. I get this question a lot, mainly because I was born and raised in NYC. People find it very difficult to understand why I would move to such a small country that averages relatively chilly temperatures and has a population of about 350,000 people. After sharing Ingólfur Arnarson’s story, the man who founded Reykjavík, I felt compelled to share my own. So, let’s just jump right into it.

I won’t go into all the details about how Gunnar and I’s relationship evolved because I have a video coming out on YouTube about it that will explain everything. For now, just know that we met through a mutual friend, Orri, who is Icelandic.

That was about twelve years ago but we didn’t becoming a couple until about five and a half years ago. We were in a long distance relationship for 3 years and the first time we lived together is when I moved to Iceland in 2016.

If someone had asked me if I would consider moving to Iceland before I started dating Gunnar, I would have flat out said no. I didn’t have anything against Iceland, but I just didn’t know anything about the place. I assumed that it would be more of a hassle to live there than it was worth. It’s funny how love has the ability to change your mind.

I started working the very next day after I arrived in Iceland. Because of that, I didn’t have a lot of time to think about my feelings regarding living in another country. I was so excited about my job opportunity and I wanted to do well so I mainly focused on that.

Funny enough, one of the hardest adjustments for me in the beginning was learning to live with another person. I lived on my own in a studio apartment in NYC for about 3 years before moving in with Gunnar in Iceland.

Of course, all of the cultural differences, such as the language and traditions were things I needed to adjust to. Thankfully, I had learned a lot about them during my visits to the country before I moved. Living here is so much different than visiting, but I experienced a lot less culture shock when I finally moved.

I do have to mention that I feel like marrying into an Icelandic family has given me an advantage when it comes to coping with living here. Many foreigners that move to Iceland but do not have ties an Icelandic family can feel quite lonely or left out. Icelandic people can be closed off when it comes to celebrating the holidays and other activities. They are very family orientated and most of the time their celebrations are just family members and very close friends of the family that are also Icelandic. Being included in the various activities made me feel like a part of the family immediately. That made living here an even more enjoyable experience.

While I do understand a lot of Icelandic, I am continuously learning and working on my conversational skills. It is challenging, but it is also a lot of fun. Thankfully, there are a decent amount of resources online that are available. If you are interested in learning the language, here are some free resources that you can check out. I use a tutor at the moment, who is awesome. I highly recommend you considering to use a tutor or take classes if you want to learn the language in a systematic way.

As many of you know, Iceland is predominantly made up of white people. No surprise there! However, some of you might not know that I am a Black woman.  I am only mentioning this because a part of adjusting to life in Iceland for me has to deal with looking different than almost everyone else that lives here. To shine light on what it is like to live as a Black person in Iceland, I created a YouTube video with my friend Tabitha about the topic. Below is the video, if you would like to check it out.

To my surprise and relief, this video has been well received in Iceland. Many Icelandic and non Icelandic people have thanked us for sharing our experiences. I have also been featured in the Icelandic news, including visir.is, The Reykjavík Grapevine and Iceland Review. Also, I recently wrote an article that was published.

Before moving I was afraid that I might be discriminated against because of the color of my skin. Thankfully, I have not felt that way since I started to live here. Iceland is not a perfect place. However, it has been a pleasant surprise that most people here want to learn more about my experience. They have also has wanted to share their own.  

When I met Gunnar five and half years ago, I was not fully a plant based eater or vegan. I was dabbling in it but hadn’t fully committed yet. I am lactose intolerant so giving up dairy products has never been an issue for me. My body wasn’t much of a fan of meat, so I had started to cut back on that. By our second relationship anniversary, I was fully a plant based eater.  I was somewhat concerned about how I would be able to live in Iceland as a vegan because meat and dairy are a big part of the diet. However, many visits to the country helped to ease my concerns.

The vegan society in Iceland has been growing at a rapid rate. Veganuary, which is when a person takes the challenge of being vegan for the month of January, has been quite successful in Iceland. Not everyone that has participated has remained vegan throughout the year, but it has helped to create more food choices at restaurants and supermarkets. More people are eating more vegetables and that is amazing.  

While there are less fresh produce options here than in other places, there are certainly enough for people who are strictly vegans. Also, there are a lot of fake meats and some restaurants that are exclusively vegan.

Whether you are a visitor or a resident here, you won’t have an issue finding vegan food to eat and/or cook.

I thought I was prepared for how much the weather can change and affect you here, but I was wrong. Icelandic weather is a beast. The wind storms can be hurricane strength and it rains quite a lot.  

I had to buy a lot of waterproof gear. I also had to adjust to the fact that the wind might be howling or the rain might beating up against the window or roof when I am trying to sleep. Additionally, winters in Iceland usually mean icy sidewalks and roads. I am still afraid of falling on ice here and I do my best to take my time when walking on paths that might be slippery.

The  long dark nights of winter and the long bright days of summer are bizarre extremes that took awhile for my brain to come to terms with. I used to wear a face mask in the summer because I couldn’t sleep if I saw any light coming through. During winter, I used a daylight lamp to help me feel more awake in the morning. The sun wouldn’t provide brightness in the sky until 10 or 11 am.  It took about 2 years before I had developed effective coping mechanisms for dealing with the seasons in Iceland.

As I have mentioned in previous episodes, having a routine has helped me a lot, especially with winter. However, the most effective method I have found that made adjusting to living in Iceland much easier is embracing and respecting the power of its nature. In Iceland, I have walked, hiked, climbed, travelled by car, boat.  I am always in awe of how beautiful and fragile the nature is here. I didn’t connect with nature in this way when I lived in NYC. Being able to do it in Iceland has changed my life for the better.

As of 2018, there are about of 350,000 people living in Iceland and about 7% of the population are foreigners.  The largest population of foreigners here are Polish, who make up about 3.14% of the population

Útlendingur – foreigner

I hope you enjoyed learning about my experience moving to and adjusting to life in Iceland. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Because the holiday season is right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to share the list of Icelandic holidays and traditions they celebrate throughout the year. Some of the traditions might sound the same or similar to some of your traditions while others might be completely new to you.

As I am recording this, it is October and the next holiday tradition coming up is fyrsti vetradagur, which is the first day of winter. It is the  Saturday that falls between October 21st and 27th and is according to the Old Norse calendar. If you are curious about what winter in like in Iceland, here is the link to my podcast episode “How to Survive an Icelandic Winter”. On this day, merchants on Skólavörðustígur, the street that leads to Hallgrimskirkja church, hand out free meat soup. From this day until the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year, the length of daylight decreases rapidly.

The beginning of November is the start of Jólabókaflóðið or the Christmas Book flood. During this time, the list of newly published books is announced in Iceland. Giving a book on Christmas eve is a longstanding tradition in Iceland that started during World War 2. Books weren’t as expensive back then, so families could offer to give them as presents. The bulk of books sales for the year happens at this time. Every person gets a book in the family to take to bed with them. I think it is lovely that after dinner and opening gifts on Christmas Eve, that Icelandic people cozy up with a book and some chocolate. After Christmas, everyone talks about the books they have read and give their opinion on it.

It is celebrated on November 16th, which is the same day as the birthday of 19th-century poet Jónas Hallgrímsson. Even though not every Icelandic person celebrates this day, most, if not all, are very proud of their language. In my second podcast episode, which is a brief history of the Icelandic language, I talk about the committee that was formed to preserve the language. Dagur Íslenskrar tungu was created because Icelandic people feel it is important to protect their language. Sometimes there are gatherings to celebrate this day.

December 1st is Sovereignty day, not to be confused with Icelandic Republic Day on June 17th. On this day in 1918, Iceland signed the Act of Union with Denmark, which recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state but was still united with Denmark under a common monarch. Before Icelandic Republic day, this used to be a national holiday and people had a day off from work. While it is no longer a day that people have off, many people still fly the Icelandic flag and observe it in their own way. I’ll talk more about Icelandic Republic day later on in this podcast.

The Christmas holiday season is in full swing in December. People have already decorated their houses with lots of colorful lights, there are festive activities and people are extra cheery. I feel like it kicks into high gear when the 13 Yule Lads or 13 Santa Clauses start coming to down to town from the mountains.

The first comes on December 12th and they arrive one by one until the last lad is in town on December 24th, which is Christmas Eve. I plan to do a podcast episode on the 13 Yule lads before Christmas this year, so keep a look out for that. For now, just know that the Santas are quite mischievous and they each have a particular thing that they do while in your house that can be considered annoying or funny, depending on who you ask. The bright side is that they bring well behaved children small gifts.

If you are in Iceland on December 23rd, you might get a strong whiff of something putrid. Just know that your nose is not deceiving you because you are probably smelling fermented Skate, which is known as Skata in Iceland. St. Þórlákur is the patron saint of Iceland and his day is on the 23rd of December. On this day, many Icelandic people observe Þorláksmessa and eat fermented skate. In the olden days, eating this foul smelling skate was a way to symbolize the end of the Christmas fast.

The smell of this fermented fish is so intense that most people opt to go out to a restaurant to eat it so they can avoid having the smell in their house. I have also heard that some people who have eaten the fish out at a restaurant immediately change and wash the clothes they were wearing that night as way of preventing the smell from lingering in the clothes fabric and their homes. I have never tastes fermented skate but I have definitely smelled it, which is quite unpleasant.

The 23rd of December is also the last day that people can buy gifts in Iceland as Icelandic people give their gifts on the following evening.

Christmas is celebrated on the 24 of December (aðfangadagur)  at 6pm in the evening in much the same way that people in the US celebrate it on the 25th. If you are near a church in Iceland at the  time, you’ll hear church bells ringing at 6 pm to signal that Christmas has started.

Most Icelandic households will have a traditional dinner of ptarmigan ( a type of bird found in Iceland), smoked lamb or smoked pork with pickled red cabbage and other side dishes, like sugar glazed potatoes. I especially love this time because everyone dresses up in formal attire for dinner, the houses are decorated to the “t” and the family sits together for a lovely dinner. After dessert, gifts are exchanged and more sweets are consumed, if you have room.

While the 25th is Christmas day (jóladagur),  the 26th of December Annar í jólum (2nd day of Christmas) or known as boxing day in the UK.  is also a holiday in Iceland and it is aptly named the 2nd day of Christmas

Celebrating the New Year in Iceland is an absolute blast. Friends and family gather around a huge bonfire (or brennur in Icelandic) that each township lights each year on December 31st, which symbolizes the burning of the old year. In addition to professional fireworks displays, Icelandic people buy a ton of fireworks to shoot off. If you are downtown, you will witness an amazing display of fireworks bursting all around you at the stroke of midnight. It is such a fun and joyful time to be in Iceland.

The thirteenth night or better known as January 6th truly fascinates me. It is the last day of Christmas season and when the last Icelandic Santa goes back up into the mountains. However, there is more to this day. You can think of it like a small scale New Year’s eve because people go to bonfires, shoot off fireworks and sing songs.  The elf king and queen even make an appearance at the bonfires. Some trolls might show up as well. It is certainly a fun end to the Christmas holiday.

This is the first Friday between January 19th and 25th.  It marks the beginning of Þórri, which is the 4th winter month on the Norse Calendar. On this day, women give gifts to their husbands or boyfriends and cook them a traditional Icelandic meal, like hangikjöt (smoked lamb).

This day also starts the beginning of Þórrablót, which translates to Þórri festivities. During this month long period, Icelandic people have gatherings where they feast on traditional foods, drink and have lots of merriment. A typical Þórrablót festival will have smoked lamb, boiled lamb´s head (svið), fermented shark (hákarl), congealed sheep’s blood wrapped in ram’s stomach (blóðmör), flatbread and lots of Icelandic spirits. After dinner, games are played, traditional songs are sung, people dance and stories are told into the wee hours of the morning.

The month of Þórri ends off with Konudagur or wives day, which is typically the Sunday that falls between February 18th and the 24th. This time around the men have to treat the women in their lives by buying them flowers or some other gift. Some husbands even do the cooking.

Up next are the holidays leading up to lent, which encourage an immense amount of eating of sweets and heavy foods.

This takes place two day before lent. Bakeries and individuals bake sweet cream puffs filled with cream and jam that are then drizzled with chocolate. The hilarious part about this holiday is that Icelandic children make wands in school that they use on this day to smack their parents on the butt while yelling “bolla, bolla, bolla”.  For each smack, they get a bun. I have witnessed and eaten some delicious Icelandic buns on this day and it is incredible the amount of them that are made for this holiday It is also amazing how many adults and children can eat!

Next is Sprengidagur or bursting day. Yes, this holiday is dedicated to eating as much possible so that you feel like you will burst! Many Christians might know this day as Shrove Tuesday, and if you celebrate Mardi Gras then this is the same as Fat Tuesday. Icelandic people eat as much as they can of heavily salted lamb and pea soup. Back in the day, this would have been their last proper meal before the start of Lent.

The last day that makes up the trifecta of celebrations around this time is Öskudagur or Ash Wednesday. I went to catholic school from the age of 5 until 18, so I was expecting to see a lot of people walking around with the sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads. Instead, I saw children dressed in costumes, going from shop to shop singing for candy. While it is not technically Halloween, it certainly feels that way.

Easter is a big deal in Iceland. While most of the people who celebrate Easter are focusing on the religious aspect of the holiday, what comes across as most important for Icelandic people is the giving and receiving of large chocolate eggs filled with sweets. I have seen chocolate eggs that are larger than my head and a picture of an egg that was the same size of a decently tall child. It is amazing how serious Icelandic people are about their chocolate eggs and candy, in general.

It can be a tough time to be a tourist during this time because many stores and companies are closed on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Good Saturday,  Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Everyone in the country looks forward to this 5 day weekend, so just be conscious of that if you are planning to visit during that time.

Before I continue, I think it is worth noting that while Icelandic people observe a lot of holidays that are religious, as a whole, not many people actively go to church during the year or during these holidays.  Those days are just some free time off to spend with your family, take a vacation or do whatever they want.

The first day of summer or sumardagurinn fyrsti in Icelandic is observed on the third Thursday in April. This date was chosen because it is the end of the winter on the Old Norse calendar.  While it is an official day off and there are celebrations, the weather is traditionally not summery on that day.

In my interview about Iceland’s beer history with Óli the brewmaster, we talked about Iceland’s complicated history with beer. March 1st, 1989 is when beer became legal again in Iceland.  Every year on that day, many Icelandic people gather downtown to drink some delicious beer.

Sjómannadagur, which is seamen’s day is celebrated on the first Sunday in June. Some communities display fish and there are games for kids. Icelandic fishermen have played an important role in the country’s culture, economy and history. Also, it used to be a very dangerous job, so it makes sense that a day is dedicated to them and the industry.

Earlier in the podcast, I mentioned Sovereignty day, which is on December 1st. On June 17th, 1944 Iceland became a fully independent nation. This date also coincides with the birthday of Jón Sigurdsson, who was a prominent leader in the Icelandic Independence movement. This day is a national holiday and Icelandic people have the day off. In downtown Reykjavík there are many events that take place to observe this day, such as parades, street theater, speeches, musical performances and activities.

The holiday wouldn’t be complete without  the Fjallakonan, which means, woman of the mountain. She wears the Icelandic traditional costume and reads a poem to the crowd. I find it pretty cool that Icelandic people chose a woman as their symbol of gaining their independence from the Danish King, who was seen as the “father” of the country.

This is celebrated on June 19th.  On that day in 1915, married Icelandic women gained the right to vote and stand for office in Reykjavík and Hafnarfjörður, which meant they had political independence from their husbands. Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir played a major role in the women’s rights and women’s suffrage movement in Iceland. A floral wreath is laid on her grave on that day and other events take place around the country.

Jónsmessa or the mass of John the Baptist was meant to celebrate John the Baptist’s birthday on June 21st. The celebration of his birthday is supposed to be the time of the summer solstice celebrations but the longest day of the year doesn’t always fall on that date. However, the name still remains for that day. The fascinating part is the Icelandic folklore associated with Midsummer’s night because this night is endowed with great magical powers.

According to folklore, cows start talking but people shouldn’t listen because cow talk can drive them mad, seals shed their skins and walk like men, and rolling around in the dewy grass at midnight will provide you with great health benefits. Additionally, if you sit at a crossroads where each road leads to a separate church, elves will approach you and try to seduce you with gifts. So many magical things can happen that night, so be prepared if you happen to visit Iceland during that time.

Verslunarmannahelgi or shopkeepers day is a bank holiday on the first Monday of August.  It is meant to celebrate shopkeepers and other merchants, and it is a huge party weekend. Most Icelandic people leave the Reykjavík area to stay in summer houses or to go camping. Lots of drinking, eating, dancing and other types of merriment happen during this weekend. The Westman Islands plays host to the biggest party of the weekend and it is called Þjóðhátíð or National festival.  Somewhere between 11-16,000 people attend this party, which is 4 times the Westman Island’s population. There is a huge bonfire, fireworks, live music, and red torches that light up the valley. It is an epic weekend of partying.

The last tradition on the list is Réttir, which is the annual sheep roundup that starts in September and ends in early October. This is quite the undertaking and is one of Iceland’s oldest cultural traditions. Icelandic sheep are allowed to graze freely in the countryside during the summer months but once summer is over, they are collected by their owners. However, collecting them means traveling to mountains and valleys to find them.  There is a lot of walking and riding on horses involved. Family, friends and anyone interested in helping, flock out to the countryside to help Icelandic sheep farmers round up their herd. Tourists are are welcomed to join in as well. After the roundup is finished, there is a night of celebration called the Réttaball, where here is singing and dancing at a local hall.

I hope you enjoyed this episode that is chock full of information about Icelandic holidays, traditions and celebrations. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Many people think that the hidden people in the land of fire and ice are just elves. However, hidden people actually includes the many different types of beings that are rarely, if ever, seen here. In addition to elves, there are trolls, dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, mountain spirits and ghosts. There are also a variety of monsters.

Icelandic folklore includes many fascinating and frightening stories that I plan to talk about in future episodes of this podcast. As a primer for future shows, I have decided to give you an overview of these different hidden beings in this episode.

Elves are by far the most well-known of the hidden people here because media sources have printed that the majority of the population in Iceland believes that they exist. The funny part is thing is that while many Icelandic people won’t say they absolutely do believe in elves, a good chunk of them won’t say outright that elves do not exist. It is as if they don’t want to make a decision just in case elves really do exist. I find it amusing.  The story of how elves came to be hidden people is quite sad and is related to Christianity. Iceland became a Christian nation in the 11th century. With the religion came fascinating stories and there a couple of scenarios that explain the origins of elves.

The first is that Adam and Eve had many children in the Garden of Eden. In preparation for a visit from god, Eve tried to clean all of her children. Unfortunately, she didn’t finish cleaning all of them in time. She hid the dirty ones away from god and lied about their existence because she was ashamed. According to Jón Arnarsson, who wrote Icelandic Legends, god knew that Adam and Eve had more children that were hidden. God said to Eve, “What man hides from God, God will hide from man.” Those unwashed children then became invisible. It is believed that the children that were not hidden from god are us, the people that you see all over the world.

The 2nd scenario of how elves originated is that they come from Lilith, a figure in Jewish mythology that appears as a dangerous demon in the darkness.  She is said to be sexually wanton and steals babies in the night. According to Jewish mythology, she was Adam’s first wife but she left him because she didn’t want to become subservient to him. She left the Garden of Eden and became involved with an archangel Samael. The last scenario is that elves are fallen angels that are condemned to live between heaven and earth.

These beings looks like humans and they live in rocks and hills. Icelandic people have a lot of respect for the homes of elves and they generally do their best to avoid disturbing them. Roads have been built around areas or rocks that elves are said to live. Sometimes a medium that can communicate with elves is consulted before construction is done in an area that might be inhabited by elves.

If you are wondering where you can find elves, there are many places around the country where they are said to dwell. One very popular place is the Elf Stone in Grjótaþorp, the oldest neighborhood in Reykjavík. Another is along the south coast. It is quite a huge rock near Skógafoss that has some incredible stories attached to it.  Because it is on a farmer’s land, you would have to ask permission to see it up close.

There are also doors that have been painted on rocks around the country and some people have tiny houses that they set up in their gardens for elves to live in. In addition to possibly meeting an elf out in the wilderness by chance, there are certain times of the year when it is said that the odds of a person coming in contact with an elf is higher. On New Year’s Eve there are bonfires happening around the country. That night is when elves usually move their residence from one rock or hill to another.

On the Thirteenth night, January 6th, which is the last day of Christmas in Iceland, Icelanders come together around bonfires to sing songs about elves and trolls. Lastly, on Midsummers Night, which is the longest day of the year, if you sit at a crossroads where all four roads lead to separate churches, an elf will try to seduce you with gifts. If you accept the gifts, you will go mad but if you resist the temptation, your wishes will come true. In my episode called Icelandic Holidays, Traditions & Celebrations, I talk about all of the major holidays that Icelandic people celebrate.

Recently, I have talked quite a bit about trolls because of the Christmas season. You might recall that Grýla, the mother of the 13 Yule Lads is a troll that eats children that misbehave. Like many Nordic portrayals of trolls, they are described as bigger, stronger and less intelligent than humans. Some are considered greedy, but they can also be wise and kind. Similar to elves, they can cast magical enchantments and nasty spells. They are said to live in the mountains in the highlands of Iceland.

The highlands of Iceland is uninhabitable for humans to live in, which is probably why trolls call it their home. Most trolls travel at night time because legend has it that they turn to stone if caught in the sunlight. There are numerous rock formations around Iceland that Icelandic people claim are trolls that were caught in natural light. One famous group of stones can be seen from the black sand beach near Vík on the south coast. Apparently, the trolls were trying to drag in ships to the shore but were hit by the light of day. When we are traveling in Iceland, my husband enjoys pointing out rock formations that look like faces or bodies and saying they must be trolls that were petrified into stone. Because some trolls like to eat people, I don’t advise trying to find where they live.  

There are plenty of ghosts stories in Iceland and I look forward to sharing many of them with you in future episodes. As you would expect, Icelandic ghosts are not usually friendly. In Iceland, they seem to go after specific people or families for centuries. They can cause bad luck, kill people or drive them mad. There have even been incidents where people have allegedly been sexually assaulted by ghosts. Some women have been impregnated by a former suitor that is dead. There is also a story about a horse stable that is haunted by a guy that attacks men he finds attractive. This might sound silly but guys are afraid of turning their back in the stable because that is when the ghost attacks. Women seem to be of no interest to this particular ghost.

Some other stories include The Deacon of Myrká and Miklabæjar Sólveig. There is even a ghost center in Stokkseyri that is dedicated to Icelandic ghosts and elves. It is about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavík by car.

The monsters in Iceland are just as intense and scary as you would assume. Well, maybe even more so. One of the most famous is Lagarfljotsormur (aka the worm monster). It is essentially this country’s Loch Ness monster. It lives in Lagarfljót, a body of water in the north of the country. There is supposed footage of it and you can check it out below.

Another fascinating monster is Nykur a gray horse with backwards hooves that lives underwater. It might sound kind of cute, but if you get too close Nykur it will lure you into the water, drag you under and drown you. It will do this to any wanderer it finds in the wilderness, Icelandic or foreign.

I won’t list all of the monsters now because I think they deserve their own episode.

“He has met personally more than 900 Icelanders that have seen and met and talked with elves and hidden people in Iceland or have had a long friendship with them, – and met more than 500 foreigners in these 40 countries he has done researches in also. Mr. Skarphedinsson is also one of the leader of the Paranormal Foundation of Iceland. – All the lectures in the Elf school are in English.”

Magnús Skarphéðinsson

Huldufólk – hidden people

I hope you enjoyed learning about Iceland’s hidden people. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Now that some of the major Christmas events are over, Icelandic people are gearing up for the New Year. While I did talk about how amazing it is to celebrate the New Year in Iceland in episode 23, which is all about Icelandic Holidays, Traditions and Celebrations and episode 31, “16 Christmas Activities to in Reykjavík, Iceland“, I still feel like the New Year’s celebration in Iceland deserves an episode of its own. After all, it is one of the most joyous, noisy and fun nights of the year. Well, at least it is for me.

Most Icelandic people start out New Year’s eve with a gathering of friends and family for a lovely dinner. If you don’t have an Icelandic family to join, no worries because there are restaurants that are open that night. Because the word has gotten out that Reykjavík is the place to be to ring in the New Year, there are even tours now that take care of all of your logistics for that night. I haven’t gone on any so I can’t vouch for them. However, a quick google search of “New Year’s tours in Reykjavik” will bring up a lot of tour results.

After dinner, people head out around 8 or 9 to their community bonfire to enjoy the warmth from the crackling fire, chat with friends, some people are singing and many others are reflecting on the past year. It is such a cosy time. There are 18 places where bonfires will be in the Reykjavík area this year. Due to safety reasons, the use of fireworks near bonfires are forbidden. Just keep that in mind if you plan to buy some to set off during the night.

After spending some time at their local bonfire, everyone hurries inside to watch Áramótaskaupið, or skaupið for short. It comes on TV promptly at 10:30 pm. This is a one hour sketch comedy show, similar to Saturday Night Live, that only happens on New Year’s Eve.

Besides major Icelandic football matches, this is probably the most watched show in the country. The show is a comedic view of all of the major events that have happened in Iceland throughout the year. Unfortunately, scandals have become quite common in Iceland, so those are always made fun of during the show. There are also jokes about artists, well known business people, activists, crazy things that tourists do and any odd occurrences.  If you have not been keeping up with the Icelandic news and if you do not understand Icelandic, you will be lost.

However, it is just an hour and you might find some of the situations funny, even if you can’t understand what is being said. Also, the majority of the country is watching the show, so it will be very quiet during that time. If you want to see it, you can view it online at ruv.is. You just click sjónvarpið, or on channel 1 if you have a television where you are staying. After the show, Icelandic people usually talk about whether is was good or bad this year.  If you want to see a previous episode of the show, check out the video below.

Following the show, it is almost time for the clock to strike 12.  After grabbing a drink or two, everyone gets their warm clothes back on. They head outside so they can be ready for the countdown.  If you would like to set off your own fireworks, you can buy them from the Search and Rescue teams in Iceland. This is a volunteer led organization and the selling of fireworks is their biggest fundraiser of the year.

I know it sounds bizarre that the Search and Rescue Teams are selling something that is quite dangerous, but such is life in Iceland. They start to sell the fireworks on December 28th. Last year, there were 130 places around the country where you could buy fireworks. You will definitely be able to buy some if you would like to fire them off when the clock strikes midnight.

Many people, including lots of visitors in the country, will be in downtown Reykjavík for the festivities. When midnight comes, the city’s dark sky is lit up with bright explosions. It sounds like canons are being shot off all around you. You will see and smell smoke everywhere. One popular place to watch the fireworks downtown is at Hallgrímskirkja church.

While I can understand wanting to be in the center of all of this excitement, I am not a fan of being downtown. This is mainly do to the fact that the smoke gives me a headache. I also really like seeing the fireworks set off from a distance. I am fortunate to have relatives here that live in ideal spots for seeing the fireworks.

However, visitors can also have an awesome view if they want to watch from afar. Two decent spots include Öskjuhlíð hill in Reykjavík and Víghóll hill in Kopavogur. As I mentioned earlier, there are also tours that take people to decent spots. There, you can witness the fantastic and overwhelming amount of fireworks that will be set off throughout the night. Just make sure you bring champagne to drink if you are going to these spots on your own. Well, that is if you drink champagne.

Icelandic people love to party and New Year’s is just another good reason to do it all night. While most of the fireworks will be fired off from midnight to 1 AM, some people will continue into the early morning.

It is like the fireworks energize people here. The bars downtown will be packed with people dancing, drinking and celebrating all night long. There are also a ton of house parties going on. It is a fun time. If you have the energy to do it, I recommend enjoying the festivities.

Now that know how to ring in the New Year Icelandic style, I’m going to move on to the random fact about Iceland.

The Áramótaskaupið has been airing on the state run television network Sjónvarpið since the network started broadcasting in 1966. Some years ago it was reported that 95% of the population watched the show. I doubt it will be that high this year. Regardless, the show is part of the Icelandic tradition on New Year’s eve.

Gleðilega nýtt ár!

I hope you enjoyed this episode that is chock full of information about how to ring in the New Year Icelandic style. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Diðrik Stefánsson, a realtor in Reykjavík, to talk about the real estate market in Iceland. His nickname is Diddi and that is how I refer to him during the interview. This topic fascinates me for many reasons. The main one is that there is a lot of confusion and curiosity about the process of renting or buying in Iceland.

I decided to reach out to Diddi because he has been sharing his knowledge about the process on Facebook in groups that we are both a part of, including Americans (U.S. citizens) living in Iceland. I could tell that he is passionate about his job and about helping others who want to rent or buy in Iceland. When I reached out to him about being on the show, he was happy to participate.

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: +354-647-8052

Facebook: Diðrik Stefánsson

I hope you enjoyed listening to this interview. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

Gleðilegt nýtt ár!!! Happy New Year. Because the new year can feel like the time for new beginnings, I know 2019 does for me, I thought it would be fun to talk about the person who founded Reykjavík. He is also recognized as the first permanent Norse settler of Iceland.  

According to the Landnámabók, which literally means the book of settlements, Ingólfur Arnarson, his wife Hallveig Fróðadóttir, his step brother Hjörleirfur Hróðmarsson and their slaves arrived in Iceland in the later half of the 800s. He gave Reykjavík its name in 874. Ari Þórgilsson, a medieval historian, claimed that Ingólfur and his crew were the first Norsemen to settle in Iceland. However, there were Irish monks that had been living in the country before Ingólfur arrived.  These people eventually left because they did not want to live among heathens.

While it is true that many settlers that came to Iceland after Ingólfur were looking for new land to cultivate to call their own, Ingólfur’s main reason for leaving Norway was due to a blood feud. He and Hjörleifur killed the two sons of a Norse Earl. This resulted in Ingólfur having to give up his land possessions to the Earl. With no land of his own to speak of in his birth country, he set sail to the west to start over.

What I find most interesting about where Ingólfur decided to settle, is his method for choosing the place. While on his ship, he saw Iceland’s rugged natural landscape in the distance. Instead of saying that he would settle wherever his ship hit the shore, he decided to leave it up to the gods. As a chieftain, he sat on a high seat that had pillars with engravings on them. These carved pillars had the family name, a special emblem and representations of all of the gods. However, it is worth noting that the chieftain owed their highest allegiance to the god that was prominently represented on the pillars.

Interestingly, Ingólfur took those carved pillars from his high seat and threw them into the water. He vowed that he would build his farm wherever those pillars came ashore on the island. Where his ship hit the shore is called Ingólfshöfði and he spent his first winter there, but that is not where the pillars were found.

Ingólfur sent two of his Celtic slaves, Vífill and Karli, to search for the pillars. Incredibly, it took them 3 years to find the carved pillars. They located them in a small bay in the south western part of the country. The slaves reported back to Ingólfur that they had found the pillars, but were not impressed with the land where the pillars were located.  Ingólfur seemed to not care much about their opinion of the place. The gods had made their decision and Ingólfur moved to that place. He named the area Reykjavík, which literally means steam or smoke bay, because of the large amount of steam rising up from the nearby hot springs.

To give you some kind of reference of how much land Ingólfur claimed, his farm was between the Botnsá river in Hvalfjörður, or whale fjord, in the west to Ölfusá river in the east. According to Google Maps, if you wanted to travel from one river to the next, you would have to walk almost 100 kilometers or about 62 miles. As a reward for finding the pillars, Ingólfur gave Vílfill and Karli their freedom and land to set up farms. He also gave a considerable amount of land to his relatives that came to settle in Iceland.

At some point, Ingólfur was the legal owner of the South Western part of Iceland. However, he ended up giving away or selling a lot of the land to incoming settlers from Scandinavian countries.

Of course, a settlement story wouldn’t be complete without more drama. Ingólfur´s half brother Hjörleifur was murdered by his slaves because of his terrible treatment of them. To get revenge, Ingólfur tracked down the slaves and killed them in the Westman Islands, or Vestmanneyjar in Icelandic. Funny enough, the islands got their name from this event.  West men or vestmenn was what Norse men would call Irishmen.

Unfortunately, not much else is known about Ingólfur besides what I have shared in this episode. However, his legacy did live on through written word and his son, Þorsteinn, who went on to become a noteworthy Chieftain in the viking age. Þorsteinn is most remembered for his establishment of one of the country’s first assemblies or Þing in Kjarlanes, which is part of Reykjavík. This was the predecessor to the Alþingi or Icelandic parliament.

A statue of Ingólfur Arnarsson can be found in downtown Reykjavík on a hill called Arnarhóll. If you put that into a search engine like Google, you will see its exact location.

Now that you learned about one of Iceland’s most historic figures and how Reykjavík got its name, I am going to move onto the random fact about Iceland.

The Landnámabók, which I mentioned earlier in the show, is the book of settlements.  It is an ancient text from medieval times that describes, in great detail, the settlement of Iceland during the 9th and 10th centuries. It is divided into five parts and has over 100 chapters. Unfortunately, the first copy has not survived but the oldest copies of it date back to the late 13th century.

Ingólfur – noble wolf, aristocratic wolf

I hope you enjoyed this episode about Ingólfur Arnarsson, the founder of Reykjavík. I release a new podcast episode every week. Make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss new episodes. If the platform you are listening to this podcast on allows you to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.

Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!

As I have mentioned in previous episodes, literature plays a big role in Icelandic society. Halldór’s nobel prize for his literature about Icelandic society is something that Icelandic people are very proud of.

He was born in Reykjavík in 1902 and his parents moved to the Laxnes farm near Mosfellsdalur when Halldór was three. His birth name was Halldór Guðjónsson but he changed it later on in life. In his own memoirs, he describes himself as an odd child. He learned to read and write at an early age, and spent a lot of time scribbling away in his notebook. From 1915 to 1916, he attended a technical school in Reykjavík and had his first article published in Morgunblaðið, a local newspaper, when he was 14 years old. By the age of 17, Halldór had already published his first book “Barn náttúrunnar”. He also had traveled abroad to other countries in Europe.

Surprisingly, he joined a Benedictine monastery in Luxembourg in 1922. Halldór was baptized and confirmed Catholic in 1923. After being confirmed, he took on  the last name Laxness, after the farm that he grew up on in Reykjavík. He also took on the name Kiljan, which is the Icelandic version of the name Irish martyr Saint Killian.

In episode 29, which is right before this, I talk about Iceland’s unique and strict naming system. Very few people in Iceland have family names and Laxness is one of them.

During his stay at the monastery, Halldór read lots of books and studied French, Latin, theology and philosophy. He also joined a group in the monastery that prayed for the reversion of Nordic countries back to Catholicism. He wrote about his experiences during that time in the books Undir Helgahnúk and Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmir (The Great Weaver from Kashmir). The Icelandic critic Kristján Albertsson gave Halldór’s “The Great Weaver from Kashmir” a great review. He said the following about the novel that had been published in 1927,

“Finally, finally, a grand novel which towers like a cliff above the flatland of contemporary Icelandic poetry and fiction! Iceland has gained a new literary giant – it is our duty to celebrate the fact with joy!”

Kristján Albertsson

Laxness lived in the United States from 1927 until 1929. During this time, he gave lectures on Iceland and even tried to write screenplays for Hollywood films. The most significant shift during his time in the U.S. is that he stopped being religious and became a socialist. He says that he,

“…did not become a socialist in America from studying manuals of socialism but from watching the starving unemployed in the parks.”

Halldór Laxness

His book Alþýðubókin or The Book of the People, which he published in 1929, was based on the fundamental ideas of socialism and Icelandic individuality. During that same year, Laxness found himself in hot water with the United States.. He published an article in Heimskringla, a Canadian newspaper, that criticized the United States. The U.S. was not amused and charges were filed against him. Laxness was detained and his passport was confiscated. Thankfully, the author Upton Sinclair and the law group ACLU came to his aid. They were able to get the charges dropped and Halldór was able to return to Iceland later that year.

The shift in Halldór from the 1920s to the 1930s was quite drastic. He went from almost becoming a monk in the early 1920s to harshly attacking the Christian spiritualism of Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran, an influential Icelandic writer who had been considered for the Nobel prize. It seems socialist ideas really resonated with the younger generations in Iceland and Laxness was at the forefront of expressing these principles at the time.

His novel Salka Valka, which was published in 1931, was the beginning of his sociological novels that he wrote over the next 20 years. The novels written and published during that time are considered the greatest period of his career. Most notably, Sjálfstætt fólk or Independent People was published in 1934 and has been heralded by some as being the best book of the twentieth century. It also was received with mixed feelings in Iceland. His depiction of rural Iceland was in opposition to the romantic idyll of rural life that many other novels depicted at the the time, especially since there was a conflict between urban and rural lifestyles in Iceland during this time period. This book had a huge impact on Icelandic culture.

However, some critics consider his four part novel Heimaljós or World Light, as his most important work. The novels are loosely based on 19th century Icelandic poet named Magnús Hjaltason Magnusson.

The 1940’s proved to be even better for Laxness, literary wise, than the 1930’s. Halldórs three part novel Íslandklukkan or Iceland’s Bell was published between 1943 and 1946. In a “History of of Icelandic Literature” which was edited by Daisy Neijmann, íslandklukkan is described as  “probably the most significant (Icelandic) novel of the 1940s.” The Book of the Month Club in the United States featured Independent People as one of its selections for its readers in 1946. The book sold 450,000 copies. Two years later, Laxness built a house in Mosfellsdalur, which is a rural area right outside of Mosfellsbær.

During World War II, the U.S. set up a permanently military base in Keflavík. In response to that base, Laxness wrote Atómstöðin or Atom Station, a satire. The scholar Stefán Einarsson describes as Atom Station as a Laxness portraying ´”postwar society in Reykjavík, completely torn from its moorings by the avalanche of foreign gold.” Many people believe that this novel aided in him being blacklisted from the United States.

Laxness received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1952 and the Soviet-sponsored World Peace Council prize in 1953.  for Nobel Prize for literature in

In 1955 Halldor Laxness received the Nobel Prize in Literature for… his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland.

During  his acceptance speech for the Nobel prize Halldór said,

“… the moral principles she [his grandmother] instilled in me: never to harm a living creature; throughout my life, to place the poor, the humble, the meek of this world above all others; never to forget those who were slighted or neglected or who had suffered injustice, because it was they who, above all others, deserved our love and respect…”

Haldór Laxness

In the 1960s, Laxness was heavily involved in Icelandic theatre. He wrote and produced many plays. His most successful was the Pigeon Banquet  or Dúfnaveislan. He continued to write essays and memoirs into the 1970s and 80s. Later in life he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died at the age of 95 in a nursing home.

Regarding his personal life, Laxness was married twice and had four children. The home he built Gljúfrasteinn is now a museum operated by the Icelandic government.[43]

People can visit the museum and there are even concerts in the house during the summer.

Now that you have learned one of Iceland’s most famous authors and, currently, the only Nobel Laureate in the country, I am going to move on to the random fact about Iceland for this episode

Halldór Laxness wrote more than 60 books in his lifetime. 22 of those are novels. I will have links to a few of his books in this episode. Some can be purchased on Amazon. Full disclosure, some of the links are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you buy the book via the link in the show notes for this episode.

Author – höfundur

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I hope you enjoyed this episode that is chock full of information

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Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!