Ask the Icelandic dude

[Anne Neville]

Are there volcanoes that you can easily go and see?

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Anne Neville

Are there volcanoes that you can easily go and see?

And do you throw virgins in them to appease the gods? Or is that too 11th Century and Norse?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Ignatz

Please give some details on the geothermal house heating system and the distribution system?

Do you have a pipe down into the ground under the house or is there a system of pipes from a central tapping point?

If a pipe system, does it carry hot water or steam?

If water, at what temperature?

Do you get charged any fees for the heat?

This sure ain't my area of expertise, but I'll tell it as I think it is

First, the fees. We pay a (low) fixed bill for cold water and veery little for hot water. I'm not sure on the number as I've yet to get a water-bill, I'm renting.

The piping system in the cities is a central one that stretches throughout the city, just like all other pipes and cables. It's hot water in the pipes and the excess hot water is led under most central pavements and main streets to keep them from freezing over in winter (it doesn't always work though).

Not sure what temperature it's at, but it's really hot (so hotter than you want to stick your finger into)

That for the cities.

I do, however, have some friends who live on a farm and they drilled their own bore-hole which they get hot water from. So for them, it is basically a long pipe into the ground (they sell their excess water to the surrounding contryside).

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Septima

I wish you guys would stop saying that - the faroese one is older.

Nag, nag...

I actually didn't know that. Consider ignorance fought.

Originally Posted by Septima

The scandinavian stereotypical view of icelanders is "they're batshit insane, noisy as hell, and no-one understands what the hell they're saying".

Mind you, the icelanders I know are nice folks. Noisy as hell, batshit insane and hard to understand, but nice.

Which is kinda exactly what I said

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Anne Neville

Are there volcanoes that you can easily go and see?

I can see a volcano on my way to work. It's about 20 km away.

It's dormant though and hasn't been active for thousands of years.

Otoh, we are waiting for two volcanoes to erupt; Hekla and Katla. Might be cool when they erupt - as long as they don't blow to much.

Originally Posted by Musicat

And do you throw virgins in them to appease the gods? Or is that too 11th Century and Norse?

No, we banned that when we converted to Christianity in the year 1000

Really bad criminals might get thrown in a Geyser though.

[An Gadaí]

After all this serious and informative intercourse I have a major question.


Can I sleep on your couch when I got to Iceland?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by An Gadaí

After all this serious and informative intercourse I have a major question.


Can I sleep on your couch when I got to Iceland?

Give me a weeks heads up and it shouldn't be a problem

[Nawth Chucka]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Ok, can't check out without answering this one.

Almost everybody has their fathers name as last name.

Lets say I'm David, my dad's Peter and my grandfather's John

Then Dad is Peter Johnsson and I'm David Petersson.

And my sister would be Daisy Petersdaughter

(all this in Icelandic, of course )

So, Karl Peterson and Bjork Davidsdaughter could name their daughter Ilda Karlsdaughter and their son Karl Karlson but never Karl Bjorkson or Bjork Bjorksdaughter. Mother's names only pass in first name form, yes?

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Otoh, we are waiting for two volcanoes to erupt; Hekla and Katla. Might be cool when they erupt - as long as they don't blow to much.

On that note, any plans to colonize Surtsey in this century?

[eleanorigby]

We have decided that our next big vacation will either be to Norway or Iceland--I want to see both at some point.

What is there to do? I imagine hiking, horse back riding(?), pubcrawling and eating out, of course, but what else? Could I rent a bike and go around the island or city? Are there spas that use the geothermal stuff for public baths and warm mud packs etc? I've heard that Icelanders are some of the most attractive and arts-oriented people around--is that true?

What kind of wild beasts do you have? Foxes? any large predatory cats or bears? Wolverines? Fierce bunnies? are there any snakes (hope not).

Do you eat seal flipper? It looks intriguing.

No worries re Bjork--we find her odd, too.

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by MrBerious

Do you by any chance play the Icelandic MMO "Eve Online"? Are people there generally aware/proud of that international export?

And if you do play EVE, what is your name - there are a few of us in the dome that play ....

[Acid Lamp]

Originally Posted by Septima

The scandinavian stereotypical view of icelanders is "they're batshit insane, noisy as hell, and no-one understands what the hell they're saying".

Mind you, the icelanders I know are nice folks. Noisy as hell, batshit insane and hard to understand, but nice.

You are confusing the Icelanders with the Finns. They are the Cosmo Kramers of Scandinavia.

[Darryl Lict]

I hear it's expensive in Iceland. How much is it for a pound (or kg) of tomatoes in the dead of winter?

Have you seen Gódir gestir (Family Reunion)? I thought it was a charming little movie. Does it reflect life in Iceland accurately?

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

Originally Posted by Septima

The scandinavian stereotypical view of icelanders is "they're batshit insane, noisy as hell,

I can only wonder if the mainlanders said the same thing about the Greenlanders way back when. They left them there to freeze and die, after all.

and no-one understands what the hell they're saying".

Consciously or not, they're observing that Icelandic has remained essentially in its Medieval state, with most of the cases and declensions (classes of nouns) shared by the ancestor of all the North Germanic languages; other Norse languages today are far less inflected, even less than English in the case of Danish (quoth Wikipedia). Usually, a higher degree of inflection liberates a language from the constraints of word order, so I can imagine that other Scandinavians listening to Icelandic hear word-roots that are mostly familiar to them, but are confounded by never knowing what the order of words will be in a sentence, and by the use of all the grammatical inflections which Icelandic has retained.

Do immigrants usually learn Icelandic and become reasonably adept at using and understanding its myriad inflections?

I've been wanting to mention I love your user name.

[Oslo Ostragoth]

bump because subscribe ain't working

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Nawth Chucka

So, Karl Peterson and Bjork Davidsdaughter could name their daughter Ilda Karlsdaughter and their son Karl Karlson but never Karl Bjorkson or Bjork Bjorksdaughter. Mother's names only pass in first name form, yes?

The mothers name is only put behind if the father is "unknown".

So (to continue with you example) if Bjork were single and didn't want people to know about her relationship with Karl (or if he's just a jerk*) her daughter would be Ilda Bjorksdaughter.

*There's some other legal stuff there as well, but that's the basics.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Musicat

On that note, any plans to colonize Surtsey in this century?

Surtsey is a national park, quite forbidden to visit unless you have research to do there.

It's basically used to see how life takes on new ground. First, there was nothing but rocks - but this summer a family of ravens succeeded there.

So it only takes 40 years (give or take a few) for an island to go from barren rock to being able to sustain predators.

That's kinda cool.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

We have decided that our next big vacation will either be to Norway or Iceland--I want to see both at some point.

Both are beautiful - but you know which I'd recommend if I had to choose (I imagine Flodnak wouldn't agree with me though )

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

What is there to do? I imagine hiking, horse back riding(?), pubcrawling and eating out, of course, but what else? Could I rent a bike and go around the island or city? Are there spas that use the geothermal stuff for public baths and warm mud packs etc? I've heard that Icelanders are some of the most attractive and arts-oriented people around--is that true?

Biking in Iceland is something we usually save for the tourists, as they're the only ones crazy enough to do it. It's always windy, always uphill and not that many bike-tracks (getting better) - so you're driving on the side of the road, which isn't that nice. If you visit Reykjavik you can walk almost everywhere you'd want to go, as most of the sights and "touristy stuff" is centered down-town (there's nothing to see in the suburbs).

Spas we do have! The most famous being The Blue Lagoon - that ones pretty darn cool if I say so myself.

And of course we're all very attractive - actually Godlike in our appearance (I'm kinda like Ganesha myself - without the trunk)

Artsy as well. A bit to artsy for my taste, but the tourist tend to think its quite charming

But what can you do? All these things you mentioned as well as pretty much anything else you want to do. There's everything from horse-back-riding and white-water rafting to sea kayaking, to nice hikes in the countryside, to treks in the highlands. Or you can enjoy most of it from the safety of your rental car. I also found this list from Icelandair, with 70 tips on it.

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

What kind of wild beasts do you have? Foxes? any large predatory cats or bears? Wolverines? Fierce bunnies? are there any snakes (hope not).

Apart from the visiting Polar-Beer (that gets shot on sight) we only have foxes. So you don't have to be afraid of any animals you might encounter when hiking.

And nope, no snakes (they wouldn't survive in this climate).

Also, no ants - which I appreciate a lot

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

Do you eat seal flipper? It looks intriguing.

Some areas eat seal, most do not. I, personally have not tried it.

Instead, I have eaten whale (*ducks and runs from the Greenpeace crowd*) - which is quite tasty and something you should try if/when you get here.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by aruvqan

And if you do play EVE, what is your name - there are a few of us in the dome that play ....

Had a trial-account, which I let lapse.

My cousin is Croesus - you might know who that is?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Darryl Lict

I hear it's expensive in Iceland. How much is it for a pound (or kg) of tomatoes in the dead of winter?

Have you seen Gódir gestir (Family Reunion)? I thought it was a charming little movie. Does it reflect life in Iceland accurately?

Another movie I haven't seen (I need to have a marathon this weekend to catch up on these), so I can't say. I wrote some movies in a previous post.

Most fruit and veggies are pretty much the same price all year round - we need to grow them in greenhouses here anyway, or import them. A kg of Icelandic tomatoes would be something like $ 1,5-2.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

I can only wonder if the mainlanders said the same thing about the Greenlanders way back when. They left them there to freeze and die, after all.

Nah, they just didn't want to leave. Conservative bastards the whole lot of them

The jury is still out on what happened to them, but loads of theories are up in the air.

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Consciously or not, they're observing that Icelandic has remained essentially in its Medieval state, with most of the cases and declensions (classes of nouns) shared by the ancestor of all the North Germanic languages; other Norse languages today are far less inflected, even less than English in the case of Danish (quoth Wikipedia). Usually, a higher degree of inflection liberates a language from the constraints of word order, so I can imagine that other Scandinavians listening to Icelandic hear word-roots that are mostly familiar to them, but are confounded by never knowing what the order of words will be in a sentence, and by the use of all the grammatical inflections which Icelandic has retained.

That sounds really good, so I'm going with that.

It does make sense.

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Do immigrants usually learn Icelandic and become reasonably adept at using and understanding its myriad inflections?

Reasonably adept, yes. I have yet to hear a foreigner (who moved here when adult) to speak it fluently.

Even I (after quite a few years abroad) have problems at times. Hell, I have problems loads of times, but I still sound like an Icelander.

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

I've been wanting to mention I love your user name.

Well I do thank you very much

[Septima]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Which is kinda exactly what I said

Just trying to help

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Consciously or not, they're observing that Icelandic has remained essentially in its Medieval state, with most of the cases and declensions (classes of nouns) shared by the ancestor of all the North Germanic languages; other Norse languages today are far less inflected, even less than English in the case of Danish (quoth Wikipedia). Usually, a higher degree of inflection liberates a language from the constraints of word order, so I can imagine that other Scandinavians listening to Icelandic hear word-roots that are mostly familiar to them, but are confounded by never knowing what the order of words will be in a sentence, and by the use of all the grammatical inflections which Icelandic has retained.

Sure. But even if you speak Faroese, an almost identical language, with the same medieval gramar retained, you still can't understand what the hell they're saying.
(Although, that's true the other way around as well)

We can comunicate though. One of the parties just needs to be convinced to speak slowly (which can take a while, as that's an alien concept), or you can substitute booze, singing, and hand-waving. Works fine.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Septima

Sure. But even if you speak Faroese, an almost identical language, with the same medieval gramar retained, you still can't understand what the hell they're saying.
(Although, that's true the other way around as well)

We can comunicate though. One of the parties just needs to be convinced to speak slowly (which can take a while, as that's an alien concept), or you can substitute booze, singing, and hand-waving. Works fine.

Faroese must be the funniest language around! The only language Icelanders can mock (in a friendly way)

But like you say, it's usually quite fine to talk if booze, singing and handwawing is involved - but without those (I have a few at my company who refuse to speak Icelandic), I'm drawing a complete blank.

[Kalhoun]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Don't worry, we have it all And great fish too.

Excellent. I think I'd like to come for a visit. During the warm season, mind you.

What do you like best about the Icelandic Experience? Politics, pop culture, natural resources, social issues, etc? Why?

[Colophon]

I love Iceland. One of my friends got married there 2 or 3 years ago (he lived there for a year or so, and married an Icelandic girl; they now live in the UK).

I was only there for a week, but ended up doing a full circuit of the ring road - we were there in August so had plenty of daylight to cover some ground!

Two questions: have you eaten puffin? And is it true that foreign immigrants have to change their name to an approved Icelandic name if they adopt full Icelandic nationality? My friend told me this. He also said that his name caused a few problems as it starts with the letter "C" which is not part of the Icelandic alphabet.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Kalhoun

Excellent. I think I'd like to come for a visit. During the warm season, mind you.

What do you like best about the Icelandic Experience? Politics, pop culture, natural resources, social issues, etc? Why?

And you should visit in summer - it's a lot better. Even though winter is charming (for a little while) with the Northern Lights and New Years Eve is a blast!

What I like most about Iceland is that my extended family lives here. That trumps everything and that would suck the most if/when I leave for greener pastures.

Politics is petty squabbling and power-plays. Kinda interesting in a car-crash kinda way (we're on our 5 mayor in 2 years in Reykjavik), but national politics is a (little) bit better. It's just fascinating how much people can care about these things.

Pop-culture: We've got our own rappers, disco-queens, rock-bands and all that and some of them are better than others. My favourites are a band called Baggalútur (hard to translate), who mainly mock everything

Natural Resources: One resource is the cheep energy, which we do our best to utilise as much as possible. This by offering energy-heavy industries (aluminum...) good deals. The goverment is also looking into luring companies to set up "server-parks" (I think that's what it's called), but that would require another under-sea cable.

But the main resource is our fantastic scenery and nature! It completely blows me away every time I go into the countryside - just so friggin beautiful.

Social issues: We have a healthy social-network which keeps people from falling to much when bad things happen to them. Hospitals are (almost) free, unemployment benefits are pretty good, childcare doesn't cost that much, the schools are good and most people get by without to much dependance upon the government. This, obviously, is affected by the 1% unemployment rate as well, as everybody can get a job.

It'll be interesting to see how things go now when everything's heading south.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Colophon

I love Iceland. One of my friends got married there 2 or 3 years ago (he lived there for a year or so, and married an Icelandic girl; they now live in the UK).

Stealing our women! Not cool

Originally Posted by Colophon

I was only there for a week, but ended up doing a full circuit of the ring road - we were there in August so had plenty of daylight to cover some ground!

Yeah, June through August would be the best time to visit. But always expect rain and you'll be really happy if you get a sunny day.

Originally Posted by Colophon

Two questions: have you eaten puffin? And is it true that foreign immigrants have to change their name to an approved Icelandic name if they adopt full Icelandic nationality? My friend told me this. He also said that his name caused a few problems as it starts with the letter "C" which is not part of the Icelandic alphabet.

1: I've eaten puffin and no, it does not taste like chicken Kinda hard to describe the taste - maybe tougher?

2: Everybody who becomes an Icelandic national has to take an Icelandic name, in addition to your normal name. So you could for example be "Jaques Þorvaldur Custeau".

And the C does exist, but I can't remember a word its used in

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

And the C does exist, but I can't remember a word its used in

Wikipedia says it is only used in loan words and isn't part of the alphabet. Is that right? It also says that the letter Z was abolished in 1974. I love that.


Another question - I've heard it said that "everybody knows everybody" in Iceland - obviously that's not literally true, but in such a small country (population-wise) is it hard to be "anonymous"? Do you constantly bump into people you know, even in distant parts of the country?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Colophon

Wikipedia says it is only used in loan words and isn't part of the alphabet. Is that right? It also says that the letter Z was abolished in 1974. I love that.

Both C and Z are in the alphabet-song , but are very rarely used in general. Z is sometimes still used if you want to spell something in an archaic way. (I don't want to diss wiki, but it is what it is )

Originally Posted by Colophon

Another question - I've heard it said that "everybody knows everybody" in Iceland - obviously that's not literally true, but in such a small country (population-wise) is it hard to be "anonymous"? Do you constantly bump into people you know, even in distant parts of the country?

7 degrees of separation is probably 2-3 degrees here. You can usually find someone you both know if you talk to a stranger.

And I've got family on all sides of Iceland, so I bump into relatives all the time - wherever I go

[auRa]

Originally Posted by Septima

The scandinavian stereotypical view of icelanders is "they're batshit insane, noisy as hell, and no-one understands what the hell they're saying".

Also, they put "-ur" at the end of every word. (This is something my friend's Icelandic boyfriend and I get into every time I see them. He mocks Finnish by going "ikka akka ökkö okko" and I counter with "fildur faldur foldur urrr". Then we drink more beer.)

Now, something alcohol-related. A few years ago, I was a guest at the Nordiska Ekonomie Studerandes Union conference held in Helsinki, and they held a sitsfest one evening. There, I became acquainted with Brennivin and Eldurís. Brennivin was good. However, there was a song sung at the sitsfest which commended the various hard liquors of every Nordic nation...except for the very last line, which was a very emphatic "Eldurís? NEJ!"

So, does it taste really bad? IS it just too strong? Is it just that the Icelanders have had a nasty habit of getting everyone drunk on Eldurís and drinking them under the table? Why the hate?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by auRa

Also, they put "-ur" at the end of every word. (This is something my friend's Icelandic boyfriend and I get into every time I see them. He mocks Finnish by going "ikka akka ökkö okko" and I counter with "fildur faldur foldur urrr". Then we drink more beer.)

Yup - if you speak any other Nordic language, just put -ur after it and you're speaking Icelandic

Originally Posted by auRa

Now, something alcohol-related. A few years ago, I was a guest at the Nordiska Ekonomie Studerandes Union conference held in Helsinki, and they held a sitsfest one evening. There, I became acquainted with Brennivin and Eldurís. Brennivin was good. However, there was a song sung at the sitsfest which commended the various hard liquors of every Nordic nation...except for the very last line, which was a very emphatic "Eldurís? NEJ!"

So, does it taste really bad? IS it just too strong? Is it just that the Icelanders have had a nasty habit of getting everyone drunk on Eldurís and drinking them under the table? Why the hate?

I'm afraid I can't comment on that. You need a Top-Security or National Emergency-clearance to find that out.

Or - I just haven't got a clue. I don't know that specific song.

[eleanorigby]

I want an Icelandic name! My real name is Eleanor--lay one on me.

I was going to ask about the Northern Lights--when do they start for you? How big is Christmas as a holiday?

I'll ditch the bike and walk around instead. Are there museums that tell about your history, both natural and cultural? Were there ever any indigineous peoples on Iceland? Can you hook me up with a spare Viking? I like tall men.... not too much facial hair.


It sounds fantastic and I want to go. Stupid no money or time... grrrr.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

I want an Icelandic name! My real name is Eleanor--lay one on me.

We´ll just shorten it to Elín - or Elín Eyr

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

I was going to ask about the Northern Lights--when do they start for you? How big is Christmas as a holiday?

Christmas is the biggest family holiday of the year. We sit down for Christmas dinner at 18:00 on the 24.th and afterwards we do the presents thing.

The Northern Lights start when it's cold enough. Usually you can see them once in a while from November through February.

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

I'll ditch the bike and walk around instead. Are there museums that tell about your history, both natural and cultural? Were there ever any indigineous peoples on Iceland? Can you hook me up with a spare Viking? I like tall men.... not too much facial hair.

Good choice Quite a few museums in down-town, that go into different segments. I haven't been to any of them in a long time (well, it's kindoffa tourist thing to do yanow ) but I hear some of them are supposed to be pretty decent.

We are the indigenous population. The (almost*) first and the only ones dumb enough to stick around for a thousand years

And what about this Icelandic Viking?

*Some Irish monks I wrote about earlier, but they left.

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

It sounds fantastic and I want to go. Stupid no money or time... grrrr.

I agree - why do never money and time match up

[jali]

I love this thread! I've done a bit of research myself after reading your answers and wanting to know more, and my ignorance has been fought!

I'd love an Icelandic name too.


jali cook.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by jali

I love this thread! I've done a bit of research myself after reading your answers and wanting to know more, and my ignorance has been fought!

I'm glad you like it! I'm having a great time, so just keep those questions coming..

Originally Posted by jali

I'd love an Icelandic name too.
jali cook.

Jali... Jóna... nah, I´d go for Erla

And then your fathers name with daughter at the end (so not Cook)

[Sunspace]

I want an Icelandic name too!

My real name is Scott. Can you get me an Icelandic name with an eth or thorn? Ever since I discovered them when my sister studied Old English at university, I've lamented that we let those letters disappear from English. Or should I say, "ðat we let ðose letters dasappear from English".

More minor questions...

Is there public transport in Reykjavík?

How does the whole State Church thing work, especially since you said that Iceland is culturally mostly secular? Do you pay taxes to support it? (In Canada, religion is common, but very much a private, family thing. Politicians who stress religion as part of their qualifications tend to be mocked.)

My uncle came from Sweden, so that side of the family has names like Eric, Linda, and Ingrid. Are those common Icelandic names as well?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Sunspace

I want an Icelandic name too!

My real name is Scott. Can you get me an Icelandic name with an eth or thorn? Ever since I discovered them when my sister studied Old English at university, I've lamented that we let those letters disappear from English. Or should I say, "ðat we let ðose letters dasappear from English".

And how do I work a þ or ð into Scott You could be Styrmir, or just Þórður if you really want those letters

Originally Posted by Sunspace

More minor questions...

There are no minor questions - I'll answer all and everything that I know about (and the other stuff I'll do my best on)

Originally Posted by Sunspace

Is there public transport in Reykjavík?

Yes, there are buses in the greater Reykjavik area - they suck.

An example:

It takes me 10-15 minutes to drive to work. It would take me a little under an hour to go by bus (which includes changing buses once).

The main problem with the buses is that they go too seldom so therefore nobody uses them. Therefore they don't make enough money and they have to cut lines, so even fever people use them and so on... The municipalities need to realise that for buses to be a realistic option, they need to set up a nice system that covers most areas most of the time and then wait a while until people realise that it works.

No patience for that.

Originally Posted by Sunspace

How does the whole State Church thing work, especially since you said that Iceland is culturally mostly secular? Do you pay taxes to support it? (In Canada, religion is common, but very much a private, family thing. Politicians who stress religion as part of their qualifications tend to be mocked.)

It's generally assumed that you're a secular christian and that you celebrate Christmas, Easter, Confirmations and all that. But if you go overboard with it, people may look at you weirdly. So basically, the same way it seems to be in Canada.

I actually haven't heard of any politicians stating their religious beliefs openly, which is the way it should be.

And yeah - the State gives the Church money, but there's no specified post on my pay-check that says "church-tax".

Originally Posted by Sunspace

My uncle came from Sweden, so that side of the family has names like Eric, Linda, and Ingrid. Are those common Icelandic names as well?

Eric = Eiríkur (kinda common)
Linda = Linda (unusual)
Ingrid = Ingibjörg (kinda common)

Icelandic names can be split into two groups:

Christian names: Maria, Anna, Jóhannes, Markús, Pétur

Old Norse names: Sigfús, Baldur, Arnar, Guðbjörg, Sigrún

[eleanorigby]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

We´ll just shorten it to Elín - or Elín Eyr

Is that pronounced like El/len?

Christmas is the biggest family holiday of the year. We sit down for Christmas dinner at 18:00 on the 24.th and afterwards we do the presents thing.

We do too. And then we have the stockings on Xmas day. I'd fit right in!

We are the indigenous population. The (almost*) first and the only ones dumb enough to stick around for a thousand years

And what about this Icelandic Viking?

*Some Irish monks I wrote about earlier, but they left.

But you all came from Scandinavia, hence my viking reference (you may differentiate amongst yourselves, to me you're all Vikings). Is there something like the book of Kells (those damned literate Irish monks)? Are there neolithic settlements--mounds and such?

I agree - why do never money and time match up

Too true.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

Is that pronounced like El/len?

Eelín, but with a soft e like in electricity and then just in as in in. (damn, my phonetic explanation sucks)

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

We do too. And then we have the stockings on Xmas day. I'd fit right in!

No stockings on Christmas day. But 9 days before Christmas the Santa Clauses (yes, we have 9 of them) start heading into town and put toys in shoes kids put in the windows.

Santa doesn't show up and puts the gifts under the trees (well, he didn't use to before all those movies started showing up ) and kids get their presents from the person who's on the label

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

But you all came from Scandinavia, hence my viking reference (you may differentiate amongst yourselves, to me you're all Vikings). Is there something like the book of Kells (those damned literate Irish monks)? Are there neolithic settlements--mounds and such?

Yeah, we are. And we're all (reformed) Vikings

So there was no previous long-term population before they came in 856 (+-5 years).

[eleanorigby]

9Santas?



what in god's name do you do with 9 of them? (I liked your Santa costume, btw). Your customs sound like a blend of UK, Holland and Scandinavia--which sounds about right, really.


Eelin.....I like it. Is it old Norse? Does it mean anything? Eleanor is a derivation of Helen and means light. That's me--your lil ray o' sunshine!

I must admit to being somewhat appalled at the public transport situation. Is there a Tube? Doubt it...

[Sunspace]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

And how do I work a þ or ð into Scott You could be Styrmir, or just Þórður if you really want those letters

Þórður. I like that. Makes me want to take my battle axe to the gym.

Originally Posted by WormThe Red

Yes, there are buses in the greater Reykjavik area - they suck.

Bother.

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

It's generally assumed that you're a secular christian and that you celebrate Christmas, Easter, Confirmations and all that. But if you go overboard with it, people may look at you weirdly. So basically, the same way it seems to be in Canada.

Secular Christian? Interesting--I hadn't heard that expression before. Only the Christian believers would go to Confirmation here, I think.

Here, you can't assume anything about a person's religion. Every week I speak with Christians, Neo-Pagans, Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Shintoists, Buddhists, and native Americans, and I have no idea what the Somalians and Mainland Chinese believe.

Here, we celebrate the non-religious Christmas with the tree and presents and everything, and only Christian believers (e. g. my sister) go to church on that day. Other popular celebrations include Halloween (candy, costume parties, dressing up as scary stuff), Easter (bunnies, candy eggs, a celebration of spring--again, only the Christian believers go to church for it), Groundhog Day (rodent looks at shadow, predicts whether winter will last for six more weeks), and New Years Day (stay up till midnight, get drunk--they run the buses till 4am even in the suburbs so that partiers can get home).

I guess you could say that some popular celebrations are slowly splitting off from their Christian ancestors. In addition, new popular celebrations are appearing like Chinese New Year and Diwali, brought to Canada by immigrant communities.

Actual statutory holidays, as in "days off from work", include Christmas, New Year's Day, Family Day, Victoria Day, the August Civic Holiday (which goes by different names in different localities), Canada Day, and Labour Day.

What are the popular celebrations and the statutory holidays in Iceland?

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

I actually haven't heard of any politicians stating their religious beliefs openly, which is the way it should be.

:: nods ::

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

And yeah - the State gives the Church money, but there's no specified post on my pay-check that says "church-tax".

Interesting. If we do that at all, and I have no idea if it's true, it would be under 'cultural funding', alongside painters and theatre. With one big exception: for historical reasons, the Province of Ontario supports Catholic schools in addition to the public schools (which started out as Protestant, but lost that a century ago). People are divided about this; some want to extend public funding to all religious schools, and some want to end funding of the Catholic schools.

Do you teach any religion in your schools?

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Eric = Eiríkur (kinda common)
Linda = Linda (unusual)
Ingrid = Ingibjörg (kinda common)

Icelandic names can be split into two groups:

Christian names: Maria, Anna, Jóhannes, Markús, Pétur

Old Norse names: Sigfús, Baldur, Arnar, Guðbjörg, Sigrún

Cool.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

No, I'm afraid I don't know him.

Is/was he (Magnus ver Magnusson) as big a celebrity as I imagine him to be? Growing up in England everybody (well, every schoolboy) knew who Geoff Capes was, and I think he was only World's Strongest Man once.

You are definitely fluent in English, by the way- I don't know if you left that out of your list because it's obvious, or what.

[What Exit?]

I bookmarked this thread yesterday and I have enjoyed reading it very much. I finally have some questions.

What are the favorite sports there?

Is Iceland mostly villages with one or two cities or are there more urban areas?

What kind of industry does Iceland have? What is the employment situation like?

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

9Santas?

what in god's name do you do with 9 of them? (I liked your Santa costume, btw). Your customs sound like a blend of UK, Holland and Scandinavia--which sounds about right, really.

They used to be evil bastards who snuck down from the mountains before christmas to steal things and vandalise stuff (Therefore they have names like, Candlestealer, Sausagenabber, Polelong, Sneaky (bad translations, but that's the general idea)). But lately, they've reformed and instead sneak away from their troll mom and dad to give kids presents (or potatoes if they misbehave).

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

Eelin.....I like it. Is it old Norse? Does it mean anything? Eleanor is a derivation of Helen and means light. That's me--your lil ray o' sunshine!

Elín also comes from Helen - so you get to keep your meaning

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

I must admit to being somewhat appalled at the public transport situation. Is there a Tube? Doubt it...

With the ground being as active as it is (geothermally and earthquakes), I for one, would never set my foot in a Tube-system here

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Sunspace

Þórður. I like that. Makes me want to take my battle axe to the gym.

Be sure to check local laws first

Originally Posted by Sunspace

Secular Christian? Interesting--I hadn't heard that expression before. Only the Christian believers would go to Confirmation here, I think.

Here, you can't assume anything about a person's religion. Every week I speak with Christians, Neo-Pagans, Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Shintoists, Buddhists, and native Americans, and I have no idea what the Somalians and Mainland Chinese believe.

It's most likely since everybody who looks Nordic (which is 90% of everybody) is baptized Christian.

It doesn't really come into play on a daily basis. Nobody cares. And nobody goes to church except for the aforementioned reasons.

Originally Posted by Sunspace

I guess you could say that some popular celebrations are slowly splitting off from their Christian ancestors. In addition, new popular celebrations are appearing like Chinese New Year and Diwali, brought to Canada by immigrant communities.

Actual statutory holidays, as in "days off from work", include Christmas, New Year's Day, Family Day, Victoria Day, the August Civic Holiday (which goes by different names in different localities), Canada Day, and Labour Day.

What are the popular celebrations and the statutory holidays in Iceland?

I'd really like to have some more cool holidays - but we're slowly getting there with more and more immigrants coming.

The days we get off are:

24-26/12 (Christmas)
31/12-1-1 (New Years)
Thursday through Monday in Easter
3.d Thursday of April - First Day of Summer (yeah right)
Ascension Day
1 of May - Labour Day
Whitsunday and monday
17 of June - Independence Day (take that you Danes )
1.st Monday in August - Merchants Weekend

Damn - that's not nearly enough

Most of these involve meeting family and heavy partying (not combined). New Years Eve usually ends sometime in the early mornings of New Years Day, which most nights out do actually (there's no regulated closing time for pubs and night-clubs).

Originally Posted by Sunspace

Interesting. If we do that at all, and I have no idea if it's true, it would be under 'cultural funding', alongside painters and theatre. With one big exception: for historical reasons, the Province of Ontario supports Catholic schools in addition to the public schools (which started out as Protestant, but lost that a century ago). People are divided about this; some want to extend public funding to all religious schools, and some want to end funding of the Catholic schools.

Do you teach any religion in your schools?Cool.

Yes - it even used to be called "Christianity" when I went to elementary school (almost 20 years ago). Not sure what they call it these days, but back then it was pretty much only about Christianity.

And NO - creationism and ID doesn't get touched, even with a twelve foot pole. Not anywhere.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

Is/was he (Magnus ver Magnusson) as big a celebrity as I imagine him to be? Growing up in England everybody (well, every schoolboy) knew who Geoff Capes was, and I think he was only World's Strongest Man once.

You are definitely fluent in English, by the way- I don't know if you left that out of your list because it's obvious, or what.

I think I wrote I was pretty good at English, but thanks

Everybody knows of him, but Jón Páll Sigmarsson is the one that stands out. He was the first and therefore the most famous!

Jón Páll won 4 times and Magnús Ver 4 times - cool

(ah, and worty saying is that most people are known by their first names. So our prez isn't Mr. Grímsson, he's President Ólafur Ragnar)

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Jón Páll won 4 times and Magnús Ver 4 times - cool

(ah, and worty saying is that most people are known by their first names. So our prez isn't Mr. Grímsson, he's President Ólafur Ragnar)

So Ver is an "active" part of his name? Whoops. I had always assumed it was Icelandic for "of" or "from", like the Dutch van, French de/du, etc.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

I bookmarked this thread yesterday and I have enjoyed reading it very much. I finally have some questions.

Thank you. Glad you enjoy it.

Originally Posted by What Exit?

What are the favorite sports there?

At the moment Handball (with the Olympic silver and all), but Football (soccer) is usually the most talked about outside the major championships. The Premier League has a "huge" followship here with people mostly going for 'Pool, ManU and Chelsky. Golf has the most licensed players though (for obvious age reasons).

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Is Iceland mostly villages with one or two cities or are there more urban areas?

Iceland is pretty much a city-state with the Greater Reykjavik Area having 2/3 of the population. The second largest area is around Akureyri (in the North) which has 30k inhabitants.

Originally Posted by What Exit?

What kind of industry does Iceland have? What is the employment situation like?

I've touched on the employment situation before, but we are going from brilliant mega boom times into some hardship right now. Unemployment has doubled in this year (from below 1% to 1,8%), so the newsies are having a fit and are talking about the end of days

Most people work in the service sector, with the major industries being: aluminum smelters, fishing (mostly in the countryside), tourism (growing) and banking. Those are obviously not all service sector jobs, but you get my drift.

The quality of life is high. Most people aim for (and succeed) in owning their own house, having two cars and are able to go abroad on vacation a few times a year.

[WormTheRed]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

So Ver is an "active" part of his name? Whoops. I had always assumed it was Icelandic for "of" or "from", like the Dutch van, French de/du, etc.

Yup - Ver is his second name (many people have two names, where you call them by both). I've never met anyone who has it as a first name though.

So he is (to repeat our lesson from before ) Magnús Ver Son of Magnus

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by WormTheRed

Most people work in the service sector, with the major industries being: aluminum smelters, fishing (mostly in the countryside), tourism (growing) and banking. Those are obviously not all service sector jobs, but you get my drift.

The quality of life is high. Most people aim for (and succeed) in owning their own house, having two cars and are able to go abroad on vacation a few times a year.

Is there much demand for IT people?

What is vacation time like? Is it the Euro version of 6+ weeks per year or closer to the US version of less than 3 weeks on average?