Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.05.2014, Síða 8

8
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011 8Issue 5 — 2014The Reykjavík Grapevine
Iceland | For Dummies
It's just a tree. How badly can you
take something like that?
Norwegians are barely considered
foreigners by Icelanders. Heck,
they are pretty much considered
family. In the Icelandic media
Norwegians are routinely referred
to as "our cousins." So Icelanders
basically took this like you would
if your grandmother decided not
to give you a Christmas present
this year and called to tell you in
April.
And she also told you that she's
still going to give presents to your
older, richer cousin London.
Who is not even properly related!
The decision by Mayor Stang
stung even worse in light of the
fact that Oslo bureaucrats origi-
nally recommended that Oslo
discontinue all its annual gifts of
Christmas trees, but Mayor then
decided to make an exception for
London because "the London tree
is a central part of Norway's his-
tory and a symbol of friendship
with the British that we will do
everything in our power to con-
tinue."
I feel a great disturbance in the
Force, as if hundreds of thousands
of Icelandic hearts broke in two
and stopped beating.
Yes, Fabian Stang, whose name
and looks are reminiscent of a
low-ranking officer on the Death
Star, really managed to strike
at the core of Icelandic national
sensitivities. And the Icelandic
reaction was perhaps a tad too
much. Icelanders f looded inter-
net comment sections, all major
media published multiple arti-
cles, and the newspaper Morgun-
blaðið printed an editorial cartoon
which showed a giant hand with a
raised middle finger in the tradi-
tional place of the Oslo Tree.
That could be left up all year as it's
a very appropriate symbol of all
family holidays.
The mayor of Reykjavík, Jón
Gnarr, responded on his Face-
book page by saying: "Sad. But
what has Iceland ever done for
Norway? Well, we wrote their
story and Heimskringla was the
foundation for the independence
of Norway in 1905. But who cares
about some old books anyway?"
During the Middle Ages, Ice-
landic scholars wrote accounts
of Norwegian history, most fa-
mously in Heimskringla (“World
Globe”) by Snorri Sturluson. Ice-
landers feel that Norwegians owe
them for having written up and
preserved their ancient history.
Not to be a slave to time or any-
thing but weren't the Middle Ages
kind of a long time ago? What have
Icelanders given Norway lately?
Since Norway has billions of bar-
rels of oil, finding a gift for the
country is a bit like trying to find
a birthday present for a cousin
who owns billions of barrels of
oil. That is a part of the Icelandic
attitude toward Norway. They are
the cousin who struck it rich. Ice-
landers try to feel superior, think-
ing of Norwegians as less cool,
uncultured and boring. Not to
mention unable to write up their
own history.
Nobody likes jealous people.
The suspicion that Norway just
does not like Iceland has been
sneaking up on Icelanders re-
cently. Earlier this year Iceland,
Norway, the Faroe Islands and the
European Union were negotiating
for fishing rights over mackerel.
After a lengthy round of meet-
ings, the Icelandic delegation
went home, declaring that every-
one had agreed that the negotia-
tions were over because Norway
refused to come to terms with
everyone else. Four days later,
Norway, the Faroe Islands and
the EU announced that they had
reached an agreement between
themselves about mackerel fish-
ing rights.
Ouch! That's like leaving a party
at midnight because your friends
tell you it's over but then seeing
pictures on Facebook the next day
of everyone dancing until morning.
And the pictures are all called
Most Fun Party Ever. Icelanders
are used to thinking of themselves
as the cool Nordics, but maybe we
are the boring guy who everyone
else has to send home before the
fun can start. You know, the guy
who keeps demanding free beer
because he did you a favour in the
Middle Ages.
Every year since 1951 the city of Oslo has presented the city of Reykjavík with a goddamn enormous spruce tree, which is erected
every year in the square in front of the parliament building a few weeks before Christmas. As well as Reykjavík, Oslo has also sent
trees to Rotterdam and London. On April 7 of this year, Fabian Stang, the mayor of Oslo, announced that Reykjavík and Rotterdam
would not be receiving Christmas trees anymore. Icelanders, generations of whom were brought downtown by their parents to
see the ceremonial lighting of the tree, referred to as "The Oslo Tree," took this pretty hard.
— by Kári Tulinius Illustration by Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir
So What's This Christmas Tree
I Keep Hearing About?
NEWS IN BRIEF
APRIL
Continued...
titled many affected passengers to
compensation, which ranged from
free meals to hotel stays. The third
strike was narrowly avoided when
a three-year agreement was finally
reached on April 30.
Although many people feel pretty
satisfied about the outcome of
these disputes, the Great Whaling
Debate (predictably) keeps raging,
both in and outside of Iceland.
Following a recent UN injunction
against commercial whaling in
Japan, the anti-whaling group Sea
Shepherd announced that it would
be refocusing its efforts on whaling
in Iceland, Norway and the Faroes.
Then, Greenpeace claimed success
in getting an Icelandic whaling ship
carrying 2,000 tonnes of whale
meat turned away from a South
African port, making further prom-
ises to follow the ship to its final
destination in Japan. Shortly after,
US President Barack Obama issued
a statement suggesting that Uncle
Sam may enact diplomatic or trade
sanctions against Iceland if the lat-
ter’s whaling practices continue.
Icelanders' reactions on the issue
have varied. An increased percent-
age of the general public—23.6%—
is against the hunting of fin whales
specifically, while 73% of the popu-
lation believes that whaling should
be conducted “humanely,” although
there’s no real word on what
“humane whaling” might entail.
For its part, the Icelandic whaling
company Hvalur isn’t particularly
fussed: “This is just business as
usual. It’s nothing new,” CEO
Kristján Loftsson said.
Also, it's unfortunately ‘business
as usual’ for asylum seekers in
Iceland, who continue to face
substantial difficulties in having
Continues over
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