The Struggle for New Iceland
by Valur Gunnarsson TAKE 1: The Vikings Relations between North Americans and Icelanders did not get off to an auspicious start. The Icelanders came upon nine Native North American
Letters
Dear Sir This may seem a rather random e-mail, but I found in an internet search a piece of work done on Icelandic sheep herding by Kirstin Egekvist. I used […]
AMERICAN OF THE MONTH: The Reverend Al Sharpton
Preaching at the age of four, ordained a minister at the astonishing age of ten, and working for Rev. Jesse Jackson by the age of fifteen, Alfred C. “Al” Sharpton […]
101
It’s a shop, a hotel, a bar, a book, a postcode, a mindset, a wasteland and a warzone. It’s the epicentre of cool. It’s the seed-bed of ambition and the […]
Getting Warmer, Post-Colonial Style
Species that form the basis of indigenous lifestyles -whales, seals, reindeer, and many birds- are under increasing threat from climate change. Impacts include melting permafrost i
“HI. MY NAME IS THOR, AND I’M AN ALCOHOLIC”
Some try to explain this alcoholic phenomenon by pointing out various factors, such as the climate, the extremes of light and night, and most recently, that the answer is is [&hell
Does a Uniform a Soldier Make?
In early September, we printed a feature on the Icelanders in Afghanistan, posing the question whether they were soldiers or not. Because of the three Icelanders who have sadly bee
The Meeting of the Bear Men
It was clear that these people had something in common that strongly bound them together and they were happy to have found their kind – hence the laughter created by […]
A CHANGE OF TERMS
A roadside. A tree. Chattering. Phone rings, a Bob Marley tune. Godot (At the other end): Guys? Vladimír: Yeah. G: Hey. V: Er, hi. G: It’s Godot. V: Ah, yes, […]
Should Critics Have Their Own Witness Protection Program?
“CRRITIC!” he growls. Vladimir is completely thrown. How can he possibly top that? “Oh,” he says, falling into a defeated silence. Why are critics so despised? It’s a mom
WHO CARES ABOUT THE KIDS?
It used to be the case that seeing somebody famous, and I mean somebody really famous, somebody foreign and famous, was something people would talk about for the rest of […]
WHY DOES EVERYONE DRESS THE SAME IN ICELAND?
The homogenity of people’s outfits in Reykjavík might not be blamed on a lack of imagination, though. It has more to do with the fact that clothing stores, despite their [&helli
VOTE SURVIVAL
I voted for the independent anyway because generally speaking, I don’t think any vote is wasted in theory or in practice. There is of course the notion that voting your […
No democracy please; we´re Americans
Like My Lai, the Florida fiasco is no inexplicable exception but is part of and at the same time obscures the larger and more important reality, leaving many unable to […]
BEOWULF CUTS LOOSE
by Valur Gunnarsson Is Gerard Butler worth 900 million krónur? Visitors to Skógar have up until now usually come in small groups and go there for the stunning Skógarfoss waterfa
Hands up: who knows what Isthmus is?
My copy is well worn – it was published in 1988. I often scan through it with the hope of picking up some new words. I never thought this wee […]
Honesty is important
He was doing well and, as is usually the case with people who are doing well, he looked good. So good that the girl I was talking to came over […]
Erró’s Muse: They’ll Never Make a Movie of this
Take a deep breath. Okay, let me relay the plot: In Issue One of the Silver Surfer, originally published in 1968, we get the origin. An entity that consumes planets, […]
Exporting Volcanoes
So when I grew up I thought that volcanic eruptions where a commonplace event. I found the 1973 eruption in the Westman Islands wildly exciting, especially as I got to […]
LETTERS
Hi hi! I just want to say that your magazine is absolutely great! I came to live in Iceland four months ago and I was veeery happy when I saw […]