Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2011, Qupperneq 42

42
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2011
Scandinavia | Iceland?
There’s really no question that
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are
Scandinavian countries. But when
it comes to Iceland, Finland, and
the Faeroe Islands, it’s apparently
not so cookie-cutter-simple. While
Icelanders generally feel Scandina-
vian, many “Scandinavians” insist
on denying Iceland the honour.
DEFINITION
Now if you’re thinking, ‘okej, let’s settle
this barney with a dictionary,’ think again.
The ever-so authoritative free online
Merriam-Webster dictionary says:
Scan·di·na·via geographical name
\ˌskan-də-̍ nā-vē-ə, -vyə\
1 peninsula N Europe occupied by
Norway & Sweden
2 Denmark, Norway, Sweden –
sometimes also considered to in-
clude Iceland, the Faeroe Islands,
& Finland
Já, I know. A free online dictionary is per-
haps not so authoritative. But consulting
Oxford, in print, is no better:
Scan-di-navia / skændI’neiviə /
noun [U] a cultural region in NW
Europe consisting of Norway, Swe-
den and Denmark and sometimes
also Iceland, Finland and the Faeroe
Islands.
That’s just frábært, right? Tack for noth-
ing, Merriam-Webster and Oxford. To
be fair, regardless of whether a diction-
ary authority had provided a definitive
answer, the debate would probably still
continue.
GEOGRAPHY
Lately I have been at total loggerheads
with a Swede who is adamant that Scan-
dinavia refers to only Denmark, Norway,
and Sweden. “People travel a lot between
the three countries, and not nearly as
often to Iceland or the Faeroes,” he rea-
sons. “Lots of young Swedes go to work
in Norway, Norwegians come to Sweden
to buy alcohol, and Danes visit Malmö, et
cetera.”
So in other words he is discriminating
against Iceland for being a hassle to trav-
el to, and perhaps for not having cheap
liquor and exciting jobs for fresh Swed-
ish engineers. Behind this silly reasoning,
he seems to be hinting at a geographical
problem with Iceland being a three-hour
flight away. Perhaps it’s also problematic
that Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is the
official flag carrier of Denmark, Norway
and Sweden, and it doesn’t even fly to
Iceland.
Geographically speaking though,
Scandinavia can be defined as the pen-
insula consisting of Norway and Sweden,
as Webster says (also parts of Russia
are in there, it turns out). And some old
maps do in fact depict Scandinavia as an
island (yes, they got that wrong) made
up of modern day Norway and Sweden.
But surely the definition cannot simply
be geographical. If it were, Denmark
wouldn’t be part of Scandinavia and Fin-
land would be because it’s pretty much
part of that peninsula/island. Not to men-
tion, Swedes often go there to buy cheap,
tax-free alcohol.
CULTURE
In addition to being a geographical term,
Scandinavia can also be defined as a
cultural term, as Oxford says. The Swede
has plenty to say on this front too. “Even
as a wee lad you just KNOW Sweden-
Norway-Denmark is Scandinavia, noth-
ing more, nothing less,” he says. “We are
the same people.” But, this is a rather
shaky way to exclude Iceland from the
mix when the country was in fact settled
by the Norwegian Ingólfur Arnarson, and
was under Norwegian and then Danish
rule until June 17, 1944.
Echoing my sentiment, an Icelander
tells me, “I have never understood this
distinction some people make—Iceland
was settled by Vikings originating mostly
from Norway, subsequently with some
mixing by people of Celtic origin.” Then
he ponders light heartedly, “Swedes,
Danes and the Norwegians are tall and
blond, while Icelanders tend to be less so,
to the point that the Icelandic male was
recently described disparagingly as be-
ing short, pudgy and mousy-haired.” He
wonders if this might be the distinction.
Common heritage and appearances
aside, however, Scandinavians are also
known to conduct themselves similarly.
They are often characterised as Protes-
tant, social democracies with a highly
educated and literate populace. This too
describes Iceland. And especially if one
ignores the fact that Icelanders hunt
whales—which perhaps makes Iceland a
little bit too Japanese—what’s the prob-
lem?
JANTE LAW
Despite the similarity in societies, and
the fact that Icelanders engage in many
of the same activities as other Scandina-
vians, such as drinking heavily and eating
loads of black liquorice candy, the Swede
dismisses Icelanders as being bighead-
ed—a trait frowned upon by Scandina-
vians who abide by Jante Law.
Unlike Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Finland, and the Faeroe Islands, Iceland
does not follow Jante Law, which is called
Janteloven, Janteloven, Jantelagen, Jant-
en laki, and Jantulógin in the respective
countries. For whatever reason, the term
is not even in the Icelandic online sub-
scription-based dictionary ordabok.is.
The basic idea is that people should
not go on about being better than others,
and admittedly this makes Iceland some-
what of a black sheep. But, perhaps our
Scandinavian brethren should forgive us,
as it may very well be that the nation suf-
fers from an inferiority complex after all
those years of being a neglected colony
of Denmark. Thanks a lot, Danes!
LANGUAGE
Then there’s the so-called Scandinavian
language bond due to the fact that the
trio—Denmark, Norway and Sweden—
can essentially communicate with each
other in their own, mutually understand-
able tongues.
But this is silly! As Icelanders often
boast (remember, they don’t subscribe to
Jante Law), the Icelandic language is so
pure that they can still read the Old Sa-
gas. In actuality, Iceland is more authenti-
cally Scandinavian in this sense because
Icelandic is most similar to the language
once spoken throughout all of the Scan-
dinavian countries.
Whatever. Let them have their Scan-
dinavian language. The Icelanders and
Faroese have more fun speaking to each
other anyways, what with the number of
similar words with totally different mean-
ings. For instance, an Icelander in the
Faeroe Islands is likely to run into signs
that say, ‘Bert Starfsfólk’, which means
“Staff Only” in Faroese, but ‘Naked Staff’
in Icelandic. Now tell me that’s not more
fun.
THE VERDICT
Rather inconclusive. For one reason or
the other, Scandinavia is made up of
Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and
sometimes Finland, Iceland and the
Faeroe Islands. It just depends on whom
you ask.
The Scandinavian Club
“Whatever. Let them have their Scandinavian
language. The Icelanders and Faroese have more
fun speaking to each other anyways”
Have you had some problems learning Icelandic? Is it super-friggin-hard? Tell us about it!
Maybe we can make some sort of support group, who knows?
No Icelanders allowed?
Words
Anna Andersen
Photo
Johannes Jansson / norden.org