Iceland’s Search And Rescue Team Is Coming For Your DNA!
Anna’s 40th EditorialI was flipping through Fréttablaðið on Wednesday morning when a particular article plus two full-page ads caught my eye. ‘This is crazy!’ I thought, a
Screaming Jumpers
A brief history of the lopapeysaThere are not many things that scream “cultural heritage” as loudly as the humble Icelandic woollen sweater or “lopapeysa” as us natives ref
Less Is More
The Nature Pass is not in line with sustainable tourismFollowing the economic collapse in October 2008, the tourism industry became the fastest growing sector of Iceland’s econom
My bubba’s New “Island” Music video
The lyrics of My bubba’s single “Island” offer listeners a visual feast—full of cannons, clamshells, seahorses, and windswept beaches. In an interesting twist, the song’s
A Coin Of Our Very Own
Auroracoin drops on IcelandOn March 25 the internets made it rain all over Iceland. Auroracoin, a cryptocurrency for Iceland to call its own, officially airdropped, and each and ev
Examining The First Use Of Lethal Force By Icelandic Police
In a large apartment block in the Árbær suburb, the police gunned down a middle-aged man early morning on December second, 2013. Not only was this the first time the Icelandic [
News In Brief: March
So: there’s good news and bad news. March picked up where February left off with a series of protests in front of parliament calling upon the government to allow the public
So What’s This Trip To Ukraine I Keep Hearing About?
Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson went on an official visit to Kiev on March 22. There he declared the Icelandic government’s opposition to the
Election Poll Roundup
With municipal elections around the corner, it’s high time for the Grapevine to start its coverage. For those not in the know, Reykjavík citizens get a chance to pick their [&he
You Shall Not Pass
Following the rapid growth of tourists in Iceland, signs of damage to the country’s fragile and vulnerable ecosystem are starting to show. At the same time, surveys reveal that n
The Nature Pass In Their Own Words
Although scant details about the Nature Pass have been confirmed, the idea behind it and the recent admission charge levied on visitors to Geysir and last year at Kerið have [&hel
Pay Per View
Icelanders put a price tag on their nature for the first time, everIn June last year, something unprecedented happened here in Iceland: a group of private landowners erected a barr
Comics by Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir, Issue 04, 2014
MOMPANTS - blue lagoon
Sour Grapes
issue 4, 2014Hello, I just read your article, 9.8.2013 [“Reykjavík’s War on Street Art”], about the street art in Reykjavik. A year or two ago, I travelled with my son [&hel
Gearing Up For The First Iceland Writers Retreat
Q&A with three visiting authorsThe inaugural Iceland Writers Retreat will be held in Reykjavík from April 9-13 and features an exciting line-up of seminars and workshops lea
They Are Coming
Aliens in Iceland in 1993. Newspaper articles from the time do not agree on whether the event was “full of people” or if the cinema, where the conference was held, […]
In Love And In Hate With The European Union
To EU or not to EU? That’s… not exactly the question. As Icelanders have amassed in the thousands at Austurvöllur over the past few weeks, they haven’t been protesting i
On A Quest To Find A Room to Call My Own
I was pretty certain that back in December I would be returning to Reykjavik in the Spring, for some period, but typically unorganized and somewhat lazy self dismissed the mission
The Fuzzy Face of Iceland
What do Icelandic men have to say about their facial hair? The silence of the barbershop is accentuated by the sharp metallic snipping of scissors. In the centre of the […]
Here Come The Moderators
Icelandic discourse in a nutshell…Icelanders tend to agree on one thing, and one thing only: the horrid state of discourse in this country. Any other topic is automatically polar