Beyond the Fire & Ice in Iceland

Iceland has the world's most unique combination of natural wonders: dramatic, fiery volcanoes; pure white glaciers; boiling, steaming, exploding geysers; craters running deep and wide into the red-brown earth, surrounding small pools of cool turquoise water; fairy-tale fjords that secretly carry the Atlantic inland, like a subtle invitation to another world; translucent blue lakes fed by narrow streams, themselves fed by white waterfalls that fall long and dream-like, silent in the distance, from smooth, wholly undeveloped mountains of black, brown, green and tan; mile after mile of impassable moon-like lava fields, millions of meticulously-detailed, tiny sculptures fired naturally by the earth and left to harden together in the salty air; and a long, rugged, unspoiled coastline where, even at the harbor of the capital city, Reykjavik, on most days the sounds of the birds and the sea and an occasional ship coming in or setting out are the only sounds to be heard.

It's no wonder that this island-nation of just 317,000 people has an historical penchant for legend, for interpreting unexpected or unwanted events as the work of so-called hidden people who reside like elves throughout their magical, surreal landscape, a place like no other on earth.

What an interesting, entirely original country. Twenty-four hours of daylight in the heart of summer, twenty-four hours of darkness in the peak of winter. Iceland is an isolated land mass the size of Kentucky located just south of the Arctic Circle. In geological terms, it is the world's youngest nation, and like all youngsters, Iceland is still growing, gaining an inch of land per year as molten lava continues to surface and harden along the mid-Atlantic ridge that divides the island in two and separates the European continental plate from the American plate. It is the most sparsely-populated nation in Europe, with about three inhabitants per square kilometer.

This reality, combined with a tradition of last names being comprised of one's father's first name paired with either -son for males or -daughter for females, means that in Iceland people are listed in the phone book alphabetically by their first names.

Sixty percent of Icelanders reside in the southwest, in or near Reykjavik, as almost eighty percent of the island is uninhabited and most of that land is not suitable for habitation. Surprisingly, Iceland does not experience extreme cold, with temperatures in December and January ranging from 28 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit and July and August between 48 and 60 degrees. Our week was in the fifties with good sun every day, only brief rain on two days, but plenty of wind, especially on the Golden Circle Tour and on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

The nation's earliest settlers (9th Century) were likely fleeing oppression and taxation in Norway. Some historians argue, however, that economic opportunity and the need to find enough food for a growing population were the motives for settlement. Because Vikings often brought Irish slaves along on their journeys, Icelanders have Norwegian and Irish roots. Before winning independence as a nation in 1944, Iceland endured four centuries of Danish rule (often not happily so), and a brief British occupation early in the 20th Century that was followed during World War II and the Cold War by the presence of a large American military base at Keflavik.

While Iceland's status as an independent democratic nation is still relatively new (67 years), this culture's roots in representative democracy run deep. In 930 AD the world's first national parliament met at Thingvellir, today a stunningly beautiful national park honoring the founding of the nation. As far as national birth places go, it's hard to imagine a more picturesque setting. Dana fell in love with it immediately.

Culturally, located about midway between Europe and North America, Iceland combines elements of Scandinavian and American culture with its own unique traditions that developed over more than a thousand years of stubborn endurance on a remote North Atlantic island that erupts, shakes, explodes and boils over with abandon. Thus, Icelanders possess a passion for hot dogs (a dog with everything includes remoulade, ketchup, mustard, raw onion and crunchy onion), Coca-Cola, American television & music, and credit cards (for even the smallest of purchases), while at the same time possessing a largely European political and social perspective, with a prime minister (the world's only openly-lesbian head of government, Johanna Sigurdardottir), parliament, universal health care, no military to speak of, strict gun laws, almost no violent crime, the highest rate of Internet usage in the world at 93%, and a life-expectancy (78.7 for men, 82.5 for women) among the longest on earth. Iceland also possesses a retirement age of seventy; this is a tough, hard-working people who, for generations, have had to work hard for what they have. It's also a nation with a literacy rate of one-hundred percent, and a phenomenal creative energy. While scholars suggest that the historical basis for the literary genre of the novel was the Icelandic Sagas of the 12th through the 14th Centuries (long-form prose stories about Icelandic legends), today in the 21st Century, everyone in Iceland, no matter his or her profession, seems to pursue the arts (painting, music, literature) in some way.

Icelanders have historically made the most of every resource available to them, with the earliest settlers (in the Viking Era) living off native fish and fowl, and building shelters using turf and rock. Later inhabitants constructed houses from driftwood that washed ashore from Siberia and South America. In the 19th Century, they employed colorful and durable corrugated iron siding and tin roofs, with materials imported from England. Many of these wonderful iron-clad houses (inexpensive and sure to keep the weather out) still exist, and can be seen on any stroll through the capital. Even the circumstances of Iceland's independence from Denmark in 1944 reflect the clever opportunism of Icelanders, as the people declared their independence as the chaos of World War II--and Nazi occupation--left the Danes in no position to dispute the claim, even had they wished to do so. But perhaps the most impressive evidence of Icelandic industriousness is the nation's use of the naturally hot water that lies just beneath the surface of this living island to provide heat, water and electricity to an entire country in an inexpensive, efficient, and environmentally responsible way. Geothermal energy fuels every light, television, kitchen appliance, heating system, water tank, pool and spa, the Blue Lagoon included.

Like all nations, Iceland does appear to have some unresolved identity issues. The architecture in downtown Reykjavik, for example, while including an original wooden house from the mid-18th Century (the oldest remaining home in the town) and a number of charming 19th Century iron-clad homes in a variety of colors, also includes large, colorless concrete buildings built hurriedly and cheaply, completely lacking relevance or personality, often adjacent to an historic home. Our guide on a walking tour pointed out that this conflict between preserving the nation's rich historic legacy and so-called progress, destroying the old to make way for the new, is a constant battle for the Icelandic people, who find themselves caught between two worlds, the Old and the New, in more than just the geographic sense. Language also reflects this conflict, as the nation strives to preserve its culture by allowing only certain first names to be used for Icelandic children (there is a government naming commission empowered to make these decisions), and new Icelandic words are created for new concepts to ensure that foreign words do not creep gradually into the language. And yet every Icelander we met spoke some English, mandatory English studies are introduced to elementary school children and Icelanders are among the most well traveled of all peoples.

But as singular as the story of Iceland is--even to those, like Dana and I, who grasp only a small portion of it and who visited the greater capital area for just a week--it is the remarkable nature of the people of this island we will remember most fondly. The kind family of Gunnar & Kristen welcomed us in their home with a wonderful meal of cheese-filled grilled hot dogs, lobster, lamb, and potatoes (plus dried salted Haddock, Icelandic candies, and home-made chocolate cake for dessert!) the evening of our arrival. During our week they devoted many hours to showing us, with pride and patience, their homes, neighborhoods and traditions, their black-sanded sea shore, and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. They spoke English freely while we struggled to muster a few adequately-pronounced Icelandic words. They accompanied us to a lovely musical performance at the Harpa and an Icelandic football match. They served us a warming lamb soup with bread in a family summer home on the rugged western shore, a delicious rhubarb pastry, and homemade vanilla ice cream. They introduced us to Icelandic hotdogs at Bill Clinton's favorite stand at the harbor in Rejkjavik, and took us to the best cheeseburger joint in the country. They drove us around for hours. But most of all they listened to us, taught us, and laughed with us.

This is a country where the taxi drivers show you their latest oil paintings and play music in the taxi for you that they themselves composed...and recorded. This is a country where just two days visiting the same small cafe makes you feel like you belong there. This is a country where the people are industrious but artistic, independent but genuinely interested in the world, realistic but good-humored, still struggling to overcome the devastating 2008 economic collapse but generous without limitation or affectation.

At a time when globalization seems to be rapidly transforming even the most unique locales and cultures into a universally-recognized, uninteresting sameness, Iceland is a country that remains an original, one-of-a-kind place, populated by a proud, creative, and stoic people striving to preserve their land and culture while also engaging positively with the larger world.

Knowing even a bit of their story, this much is clear: Iceland may be a small nation, but it has a great deal to offer beyond the fire and ice.

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Accompanying YouTube picture shows on Iceland with original music by Phil Angotti: CLICK HERE