# Ask the Icelandic dude **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629 "2008-09-08T16:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/21 "2008-09-08T19:40:07Z")
> [@MrBerious](#): > > Do you by any chance play the Icelandic MMO “Eve Online”? Are people there generally aware/proud of that international export? Most people know about it. Hell, my grandma and grandpa know about it and they sure don’t know how to use a computer. I don’t play it myself. Have tried it, but it wasn’t my cuppa tea. I have a cousin who’s quite big in it tough (can’t remember is corp though). > [@Sunspace](#): > > I presume that there is Icelandic television. When you show foreign shows, are they dubbed or subtitled in Icelandic? You presume correctly - it’s generally quite bad. They want to do good, but there’s simply not enough money to do it well. And everything, save kiddy-flicks, is subtitled. I’ve always found it quite odd to watch dubbed films (Ahhnuld speaking bad german - heh?). > [@sunspace](#): > > These would be home-grown shows in Icelandic, correct? Most of them, yes. But also big ones like “Les Mis”, Cats and Hair. Those are usually translated into Icelandic. > [@sunspace](#): > > Is there anything corresponding to the North American “neo-pagan” religious movement in Iceland? > > Edit: is great drinking considered a feat to boast of in Iceland? There’s nothing “neo” about those beliefs. There are elves in the hills, dwarfs in the mountains and trolls in the highlands. (only partially written as a joke). They are there, if you believe in them. There is also a recognized Aesir-congregation (Oden, Thor…) in Iceland. It has a few thousand members and gets in the news every once in a while. For the edit: Only in certain groups and at certain occasions. It definitely was much more accepted 20 years ago and most families have at least one elder member who’s been in rehab. 'Twas the way things were when most people were farmers or fishermen. > [@Kalhoun](#): > > M’kay…everything seemed alright until the blocked balls and other assorted weird food. I’m so glad to hear you have pizza and other stuff. Don’t worry, we have it all 🙂 And great fish too. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/22 "2008-09-08T19:48:14Z")
1.) How many trees and plants are there, really? It sems as if every time I see something filmed in Iceland, ancient or modern, they show the island as either barren rock or ice or volcanic land – there are never any plants or trees. Yet they MUST exist – heck, you talk about the forestation efforts above. So what’s it really like, when the movies aren’t trying to make it look as if you people live on pure rock? 2.) I’ve read about **Hakarl** in Kurlansky’s book **Salt** , and it’s one click from the Wikipedia cite you give above: > **[Hákarl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl)** > > Hákarl (an abbreviation of kæstur hákarl \[ˈcʰaistʏr ˈhauːˌkʰa(r)tl̥\]), referred to as fermented shark in English, is a national dish of Iceland consisting of Greenland shark or other sleeper shark that has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. It has a strong ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste, making hákarl an acquired taste. > Fermented shark is readily available in Icelandic stores and may be eaten year-round, but is most often served as pa... This stuff sounds absolutely and incredibly awful. It makes _lutefisk_ sound like homey comfort food, and gives _casu marza_ a run for its vomit-inducing money. Is it really as bad as it’s made out to be? Have you tried it? ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/23 "2008-09-08T19:58:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 1.) How many trees and plants are there, really? It sems as if every time I see something filmed in Iceland, ancient or modern, they show the island as either barren rock or ice or volcanic land – there are never any plants or trees. Yet they MUST exist – heck, you talk about the forestation efforts above. So what’s it really like, when the movies aren’t trying to make it look as if you people live on pure rock? Two anecdotes first: I was driving a German from the airport into Reykavik and after 20 minutes he burst out: “Are there no trees here?” Many years ago, grandpa was driving into the countryside with two Swedes and after a few hours drive on of them said: “I’ve seen more churches than trees” Despite those anecdotes, there actually are trees here. And they say 30% of Iceland was forested when people came here a 1000 years ago. The reforestation efforts do take time and give us a few decades and it actually might be a lot better. And most movies are filmed in the south - which is pretty much only sand and glaciers. The north and east are much greener. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > 2.) I’ve read about **Hakarl** in Kurlansky’s book **Salt** , and it’s one click from the Wikipedia cite you give above: > > [Hákarl - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl) > This stuff sounds absolutely and incredibly awful. It makes _lutefisk_ sound like homey comfort food, and gives _casu marza_ a run for its vomit-inducing money. Is it really as bad as it’s made out to be? Have you tried it? [/quote] Yeah, it is. Which is why you’re only supposed to eat it with a shot of vodka. And I’ve tried it - with and without Vodka. Do not EVER try it without. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/24 "2008-09-08T20:02:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Have you tried it? Of course he hasn’t. They only foist this stuff on gullible tourists and TV travel show hosts… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/25 "2008-09-08T20:04:40Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Of course he hasn’t. They only foist this stuff on gullible tourists and TV travel show hosts… :dubious: That too 😃 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/26 "2008-09-08T20:11:25Z")
Have you seen the movie [No Such Thing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248190/)? It’s a favorite of mine. Do you think the parts of it that take place in Iceland get the “feel” right? Any movies I might have access to here in the States that get the “feel” right? Do you like tourists? How are the prices of things? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/27 "2008-09-08T20:11:26Z")
Is your TV watching more slanted towards the East or West Atlantic, that is, European or American tastes in entertainment? Are you in the path/coverage area of consumer TV satellites from either (or both) continents? What kind of Internet service is most common? Cable, satellite, DSL, dialup, other? And what kind of data speeds can you expect and for what cost? (By “you”, I guess I mean the average Icelander.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/28 "2008-09-08T20:30:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 2.) I’ve read about **Hakarl** in Kurlansky’s book **Salt** , and it’s one click from the Wikipedia cite you give above: > > [Hákarl - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl) > This stuff sounds absolutely and incredibly awful. It makes _lutefisk_ sound like homey comfort food, and gives _casu marza_ a run for its vomit-inducing money. Is it really as bad as it’s made out to be? Have you tried it? To be fair, the term “hakarl” is perfectly onomatopoeic for the following: 1) a food that immediately induces vomiting; 2) the sound a cat makes when yakking up a hairball (or grass, a lizard, cockroaches, bird entrails, etc.). So even though the food may be a gut-wrenching culinary tourist trap, designed to boost sales of overpriced vodka shots, we can’t claim the Icelanders didn’t warn us. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/29 "2008-09-08T20:34:02Z")
Can we pretend last Saturday’s football match never happened? Failing that, could you arrange for our coach to have a little accident with a volcano or something when he arrives in Iceland for the return match? ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/30 "2008-09-08T20:38:23Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Have you seen the movie No Such Thing? It’s a favorite of mine. Do you think the parts of it that take place in Iceland get the “feel” right? > > Any movies I might have access to here in the States that get the “feel” right? I’m afraid I haven’t seen it so I can’t comment on its “feel”. And I’m not sure if there are any movies that get it right. Sure, there are movies like 101 Reykjavik (101 is the post-code for down-town Reykjavik), which one of my Swedish buds says reminds him of me (not a compliment 😉 ) and [Djöflaeyan](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116116/), which is about how life used to be. But I’m afraid I can’t think of any specific movie that gets it just right. > [@levdrakon](#): > > Do you like tourists? How are the prices of things? We love your money 🙂 No, seriously - Iceland is a very friendly place to visit. Almost everybody speaks english and wants to speak english. And everybody’s really proud of the country so you’ll get tons of hints and tips of things to see and do. ETA: I missed you price question. A meal at a burger joint is 12-15, a hotel is 100-150/night for 3 stars and a beer at a pub is around $ 7. It’s not cheap. But it’s not ridicolously expensive either. > [@Musicat](#): > > Is your TV watching more slanted towards the East or West Atlantic, that is, European or American tastes in entertainment? Are you in the path/coverage area of consumer TV satellites from either (or both) continents? We have two free TV-channels that are worth watching.\* The State Telivision is slanted towards Europe and shows among others some Danish/Swedish shows and films (there’s a french documentary on right now, to add to it). The other channel is only american Sit-Coms (King of Queens…), Drama (CSI, L&O…) and reality shows (Biggest Looser…). Icelandic TV is, as previously stated, generally quite bad. \*Then there’s the equivalent of CSPAN, a Music-Video channel and a “Christian Channel”, but they don’t count. [QUOTE=Musicat] What kind of Internet service is most common? Cable, satellite, DSL, dialup, other? And what kind of data speeds can you expect and for what cost? [/QUOTE] Cable, 10-100 Mbit. And more and more places are WiFi (most cafes and public buildings). I pay close to $100/month for a package which includes TV, 100 Mbit cable and telephone. That’s pretty standard. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/31 "2008-09-08T20:43:31Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > To be fair, the term “hakarl” is perfectly onomatopoeic for the following: 1) a food that immediately induces vomiting; 2) the sound a cat makes when yakking up a hairball (or grass, a lizard, cockroaches, bird entrails, etc.). > > So even though the food may be a gut-wrenching culinary tourist trap, designed to boost sales of overpriced vodka shots, we can’t claim the Icelanders didn’t warn us. 😉 Hey - my friends usually get the Vodka for free. It’s soo worth it to see their faces 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/32 "2008-09-08T20:45:32Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Can we pretend last Saturday’s football match never happened? Nope, no way. It was a very good game 🙂 Now, to crush the Scots on Wednesday. > [@flodnak](#): > > Failing that, could you arrange for our coach to have a little accident with a volcano or something when he arrives in Iceland for the return match? I guess that could be arranged. Or would you prefer to have him fall into a [Geysir](http://www.trentobike.org/Countries/Iceland/Tour_Reports/Iceland2003/Geysir.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/33 "2008-09-08T20:48:47Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > We have two free TV-channels that are worth watching.\* The State Telivision is slanted towards Europe and shows among others some Danish/Swedish shows and films (there’s a french documentary on right now, to add to it). The other channel is only american Sit-Coms (King of Queens…), Drama (CSI, L&O…) and reality shows (Biggest Looser…). > > Icelandic TV is, as previously stated, generally quite bad. How about satellite TV? I’m thinking of Dish, Direct TV or Hughes, where the consumer has a small (18") dish on a house. There are geosynchronous sats over each of the major continents, but I’m wondering if Iceland is in the shadow between coverages. That would suck, if you can’t get either. Dish & Direct TV, in case you’re not familiar with them, offer hundreds of channels, including high definition ones for an affordable price, and different packages are available. And if you have cable for Internet, I would imagine you could get hundreds of TV channels thru that. Does that work? ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/34 "2008-09-08T20:52:06Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How about satellite TV? I’m thinking of Dish, Direct TV or Hughes, where the consumer has a small (18") dish on a house. There are geosynchronous sats over each of the major continents, but I’m wondering if Iceland is in the shadow between coverages. That would suck, if you can’t get either. > > Dish & Direct TV, in case you’re not familiar with them, offer hundreds of channels, including high definition ones for an affordable price, and different packages are available. > > And if you have cable for Internet, I would imagine you could get hundreds of TV channels thru that. Does that work? Ah, sorry. I have to admit that I haven’t got a a clue about the dish. As for cable-TV. Yes, you can get all sorts of channels - ranging from the Playboy Channel, to the Disney Channel with ManU TV inbetween. And BBC, RTL, RAI, SVT, NOK and most other state channels. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/35 "2008-09-08T20:53:57Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > No, seriously - Iceland is a very friendly place to visit. Almost everybody speaks english and wants to speak english. And everybody’s really proud of the country so you’ll get tons of hints and tips of things to see and do… > > Icelandic TV is, as previously stated, generally quite bad. Do you have cable/satellite? What channels? > [@WormTheRed](#): > > Cable, 10-100 Mbit. And more and more places are WiFi (most cafes and public buildings). > > I pay close to $100/month for a package which includes TV, **100 Mbit cable** and telephone. That’s pretty standard. :: sob :: _Now_ I’m jealous. 😃 The only people who have 100-megabit internet service in Canada are the rich people who live in skyscraper condos downtown and have fibre service. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/36 "2008-09-08T21:01:03Z")
Double post. Sorry. And I see that you do have cable. Re: neo-paganism. In North America, this is a group of nature-based religions, most of which are reconstructed but claim some older roots. I believe there are groups who are more-or-less continuous with original pagans on the other side of the pond. I haven’t had a lot of contact with pagans of any sort for about 15 years and I don;t know the state of things these days. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/37 "2008-09-08T21:02:49Z")
> [@sunspace](#): > > I have to visit. Let me know, and I’ll give you pointers. > [@Sunspace](#): > > Do you have cable/satellite? What channels?:: sob :: Answered in post #34 > [@sunspace](#): > > _Now_ I’m jealous. 😃 The only people who have 100-megabit internet service in Canada are the rich people who live in skyscraper condos downtown and have fibre service. Well, I do live downtown… but not in a Condo and I’m not rich by any means. We do however only have two sea-cables (one in each direction), which limits bandwith to the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/38 "2008-09-08T21:05:10Z")
Is Björk as popular in Iceland as she is elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/39 "2008-09-08T21:10:23Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Is Björk as popular in Iceland as she is elsewhere? Same as Sigur Rós. Everybody knows who she is (hell, my flatmate slept in her bed (she wasn’t there though) after a late party), but most people think she’s kinda weird. A bit to alternative for my personal taste. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/40 "2008-09-08T21:10:35Z")
About Björk… She looks Asian to me. However, in Canada, there are plenty of people who look Asian but aren’t: First Nations, Metis, or Inuit, for example. Is there a corresponding ‘pre-European’ group in Iceland? ISTR reading that Iceland was uninhabited before the Norse came. On the other hand, Farley Mowat in _The Farfarers_ posited a European pre-Celtic people who moved westward in front of the Celts and lived in Iceland for a time. What is then history of Iceland? Do many people immigrate there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629.md?page=3)