WHALING IN ICELAND
Iceland is often considered an environmentally forward thinking country due to its investments in clean renewable energy. However, the same country is still somehow entrenched in t
The Scandinavian Club
There’s really no question that Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are Scandinavian countries. But when it comes to Iceland, Finland, and the Faeroe Islands, it’s apparently not so co
You Cannot Put Rules On Love
Hörður Torfason—troubadour, songwriter, actor, director and human rights activist—is one of Iceland’s living legends. In recent memory, he was the organising force behi
Reykjavík’s Secret History
When Hilmar Magnússon decided to create the Reykjavík LGBT History & Culture Walk this summer, he admits that he wasn’t sure how it would go over. There had previously been
Welcome to Reykjavík Gay Pride!+Programme
For the thirteenth time we celebrate Gay Pride in Reykjavík. Our cosy little pride, originally visited by some fifteen hundred onlookers, has blossomed and evolved into a colourfu
Suffer For Fashion, Or Whatever
It was 1977, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The voice, the vision, the inimitable Nina Simone erupts the audience with cheers and laughter as she chides them: “Come on [&hellip
Pink Iceland
Last March, Eva María Þórarinsdóttir and Birna Hrönn Björnsdóttir (not pictured) launched Pink Iceland, a travelling service catering specifically to the LGBT Communit
WHY I BOTHER – PART II
Ok. So in part one I told you good people about some quite infuriating examples of misogyny in the Icelandic media. I even explained why they were infuriating, why the […]
Gay Pride Takes The Cake
The Icelandic LGBT community achieved an especially exciting feat this year; the Reykjavík Human Rights Prize was awarded to Gay Pride. The prize is given annually to a person, gr
An Alchemist
A standard feature of many European courts of the Middle Ages was the alchemist. The practitioner of alchemy was afforded respect not only because of his demonstrable powers over t
Shoot Teenagers and Fight Environmentalists
In a very short time the discourse following last week’s right-wing terrorist attacks in Norway reached both absurd and scary heights, with one of the best examples being Ame
The Constitutional Committtee
Perhaps one of the most important results of the 2009 Pots and Pans Revolution was the notion that Iceland’s constitution—more or less a copy/paste job from Denmark—neede
Words Have Consequences
I do not believe Anders Behring Breivik is insane. Certainly, his murderous rampage was horrific and cruel. His targets were young, innocent, and defenceless. How their death
Go Drive Around Iceland!
In case you were wondering… You’re seeing an unfamiliar face on this page because our seasoned editor Haukur S. Magnússon is out driving around the country in one of those [&h
THE TRAGIC STORY OF SÆVAR CIESIELSKI
Sævar Ciesielski died in Copenhagen on July 13, of accidental causes. He was nothing less than Iceland’s most famous felon. Along with a group of his friends, he was convicted [
The Future Belongs To Us
Richard Stallman is not a man known to compromise. This is the case whether you’re talking about software freedom or where to conduct an interview (hint: he really likes Dani
The Many Mindless Murders Of The Great Auk
Do you remember the story of the Great Auk, or as Icelanders like to call it, the geirfugl? The history of this extinct bird is staple curriculum in Icelandic schools, […]
Nappies And Bytes
When picturing a ‘computer programmer’ we tend to imagine a smart, nerdy type spending his days and nights in the university library, studying books that are almost unreadable
Dem Pesky Foreign Spin-Doctors
First off, a few tidbits of unexplored Iceland trivia for you. In the scheme of Europe, with 103.000 square kilometres, Iceland is not a tiny island in the middle of […]
Playing The Game Of ‘This Time It’s Different’
It is curious, when one considers how obvious it now seems that the Icelandic financial miracle was a giant bubble, that this idea has really not received any attention from [&hell
IT’S REALLY EASY: JUST DON’T RAPE PEOPLE!
In the past three months, people across the world have united in a global protest against stereotypical ideas that the victims of sexual assault are somehow to blame for the [&hell