For a small country, there’s a lot to talk about and the A-Z of Iceland covers everything. Well, it covers a subject per letter, which means that it occasionally covers the obscure. Speaking of A to Z, why don’t you ever see the letter Z in Icelandic? What’s all this about bananas? Who will rescue me if I get into trouble on a mountain?
Welcome to the A-Z of Iceland, everything it never occurred to you to want to know.
In the last installment of the A-Z of Iceland, I talked about Iceland’s conversion to Christianity at the Alþing in 1000AD (a year that requires the AD because “in 1000” looks stupid). But I wasn’t very clear about what the Alþing actually is. In Icelandic, a Þing (or Thing, if you prefer the Latin alphabet)… More The A-Z of Iceland: Parliament
Today we’re going to talk about my favourite Viking, King Olafur Tryggvason, or plain Olaf in Norwegian. I make no claims about him being a good or nice Viking, by the way, but a few years ago I found myself accidentally following him around Europe and so I already liked him. He was a Norwegian… More The A-Z of Iceland: O for Olafur Tryggvason
Take a guess what country has the most Nobel Prizes in the world? It’s Iceland! Ok, let’s qualify that. Which country has the most Nobel Prizes per capita? Iceland has one Nobel Prize but on the other hand, it has a population the size of Camden, so that’s a pretty high ratio of Nobel Prizes to… More The A-Z of Iceland: N for Nobel Prizes
Ah, where do we start with the myths, monsters & magic of Iceland? Þórr, better known to English-speakers as Thor, who may as well be the patron saint of Iceland? The many ghosts blamed for causing various hot springs? The Eastfjords’ Lagarfljótsormur? The infamous witchcraft museum and the necropants? Every country – every place – has… More The A-Z of Iceland: M for Myths, Monsters & Magic
There were a lot of contenders for the L-spot in this series but I’d already written about most of them, like Landmannalaugar, the Laugavegur trail and Laki so I thought I’d go for one of Iceland’s best-known Vikings, Leifur Eiriksson. You may know him better as Leif Ericson or Lucky Leif. He was an explorer… More The A-Z of Iceland: L for Leifur Eiriksson
The K has come round very quickly and other contenders for this letter included the Krafla power station, the imminent eruption of Katla and the explosion crater Kerið before settling on the Kjölur route. There are a handful of roads running across Iceland’s Interior, also known sometimes as its Highlands. It’s a very wild area,… More The A-Z of Iceland: The Kjölur route
What do Icelanders wear? Knitted Icelandic jumpers with a pretty ring pattern around the neck! These things, these traditional Icelandic jumpers, are called lopapeysas, known for short as the lopi (although strictly speaking, lopi is just the wool). It’s oh-so-traditional, dating back to somewhere around the early-to-mid 20th century. That’s less than one hundred years.… More The A-Z of Iceland: J is for jumpers
If you’re out and about in Iceland on your own – and by on your own, I mean without a professional guide/driver/tourist personnel – you should know about ICE-SAR. That’s the Icelandic Association for Search & Rescue. They’re the people who will come and rescue you if you decide to have a picnic on an iceberg… More The A-Z of Iceland: I is for ICE-SAR
One of the things you’ve probably heard about Iceland is that all the people believe in elves. Well… it isn’t quite as simple as that. In Iceland, the beings in question are called the huldufólk, the Hidden People. Some say that it’s a euphemism for elves or that you shouldn’t call elves by their real… More The A-Z of Iceland: H for Hidden People
We’re up to the 7th chapter of The A-Z of Iceland and finally I’m mentioning the ice! For Iceland does have ice, even in the heights of summer, in the form of several glaciers. Today, Iceland is about 11% glaciers. When Flóki Vilgerðarson named the country, fed up to the back teeth with ice and… More The A-Z of Iceland: G for glaciers