THE MASTER BUILDER, THE MINISTER AND THE CHURCH WE USED TO THINK WAS UGLY
The idea of building a church on the hill called Skólavörðuholt was first broached as early as 1916. Architect Guðjón Samúelsson started making sketches for the church in 193
The First Step Away From Segregation
Words are weapons. Controlling language—the meaning of words, which words exist and which do not—is the ruling powers’ fundamental premise to keep society stagnant or swa
Sour Grapes And Stuff
MOST AWESOME LETTER: Dear editor I travelled across the world in search of TARGETS FOR DEREGULTION. And in 2009 i arrived in northeast iceland, and found a perfect target for [&hel
VIDEO: Driving Into Öskumyrkur
Living in one of the most volcanically active areas in the world, Icelanders not surprisingly have a number of words that derive meaning from eruptions. One such word, ‘öskumyr
Ode To Nature’s Fuzzy Balls
Iceland, the land of volcanic eruptions, glacial fields, and herds of grazing sheep, does not welcome plant life with open arms. The ones that do slip through the cracks (quite [&h
Beards Gone Wild
When you live in a town of Reykjavík’s size, any change in the surroundings is instantly noticeable. So when an increasing number of men with long and sometimes extravagant
Whom To Blame?
Icelanders are upset. That may be an understatement, and it’s also unfortunate. The real unfortunate part is that they’re a little unsure what they’re upset about. Domestic b
Whale Watching Tourists Eating Whale
Whale watching attracts more tourists than any other tourist activity in Reykjavík. Tourists who go whale watching are mostly against whaling and come from anti-whaling nations. Y
What New York Times Magazine Thinks Of Iceland
On Friday, May 13 (of all days), New York Times Magazine ran with an article by shock-reporter and radio commentator, Jake Halpern, entitled ‘Iceland’s Big Thaw’. Much in the
Maybe Partying Will Help
Wow. Every bar in 101 Reykjavík, huh? That’s a lot of bars. Rating and reviewing all of them is a huge task. Well, maybe not compared to, say, ‘rating and […]
DESPERATE TIMES DESPERATE MEASURES
“There was nothing else for me to do, I couldn’t take it anymore”, says Iranian asylum seeker Medhi Kavyanpoor (born 1958), who for seven long years has waited for a [&hellip
The Troubled History Of The Harp
For many centuries Iceland was a country without music. There were no musical instruments; dancing was banned by the church, the only thing akin to music were the rímur—long and
Whatever Happened to Our Crisis?
In a great article in the last issue of Grapevine (yes, every conversation should start with those words), writer Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl reviews the effects of the 2008 economic c
The Three Stages Of Integration
I’ve lived in Iceland for nearly 12 years now, and have been a citizen for the last four. Along the way, I’ve met other foreigners who moved here for various […]
The Icelandic Entitlement Club
In 1952, Israel’s premier, David Ben-Gurion, offered the new country’s presidency to Albert Einstein. Einstein, being a rather bright fellow, politely declined, noting that whi
ICELAND’S BIG BROTHER IN LAW?
Passed by the parliament and quietly signed by the President just before the country shut down for its four-day Easter holiday, Iceland’s new media law, Law no. 38/2011, hardly m
RVK9: WHAT DID WE LEARN?
By mid March, the case against the Reykjavík Nine (who had been accused of conspiracy to attack Alþingi with the intent of compromising its “independence and sanctity”) final
WOULD-BE ICELANDERS
THE SITUATION Stop me if you’ve heard this one: North American billionaires apply to Alþingi for instant Icelandic citizenship. They’re likely all crooked assholes, hell bent
THE CULTURE OF INCREDIBILITY
After finishing reading Hildur Lilliendahl’s editorial piece ‘CAR CLAIMS TO HAVE CAUGHT FIRE’ one can hardly be blamed for losing their appetite or losing their lunch. I am s
IS HARPA JUST A FAÇADE?
The house Ólafur Elíasson built Like it or not, HARPA, Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre, is now open for business, permanently altering downtown Reykjavík’s citys