Reykjavík Grapevine - 27.09.2019, Page 6

Over a millennium ago,
Vikings traded not with gold
coins or fur pelts, but with
salted cod, or saltfiskur.
And it’s no wonder; the
stu! is delicious. Cod,
like any other animal
product, doesn’t
last long without
preservation, and,
with the dawn of the
refrigerator still a
thousand years o!,
the Vikings had to
use salt.
The modern
process of making
saltfiskur involves
covering a tray with
salt, placing the cod on
the tray, then covering the
cod with salt. If it looks like
there’s too much salt on the
cod, that means it needs a
little more. A"er that, the cod
must be refrigerated for a
day, and then rinsed in cold
water. Then it is wrapped in
muslin and refrigerated for
a week. At this point, it will
keep for several weeks.
It is then baked or pan-
fried in butter. The result is
a dish with a slightly crispy
outer layer and a smooth,
satiny texture on the inside.
As for the flavour, it is salty,
but not overwhelmingly so.
It’s also chock full of protein.
SO Sa
ltf
isk
ur
Alda Vigdís Skarphé!insdóttir, an
Icelandic trans woman with a legal
address in Germany, was denied being
able to change her name and regis-
tered gender with Iceland’s National
Registry. While the Registry cited her
legal address as the reason for their
rejection, Iceland’s gender determi-
nation law makes no such provision.
In fact, the new law specifically abol-
ished such hindrances when it was
passed. Alda tells the Grapevine that
she has filed an appeal on the matter.
Alda is an Icelandic citizen who has
lived in Berlin for the past five years
now and began her transition there
about three years ago. When Iceland
passed its gender determination law—
which eliminated the many medical
and legal hoops that trans people have
had to go through in the past in order to
change their legally registered name and
gender—Alda sought to do exactly that.
Kafka on our shores
The new law contains only one condi-
tion for being able to make these
changes: that any person in the
National Registry need only be 18-years
old or older. However, the Regis-
try rejected Alda’s changes based
on her having a legal address in
Germany. The Registry has insisted
that she must make these changes
in Germany and provide the Regis-
try with documentation to this effect.
However, Alda is not a German
national but an Icelandic citi-
zen, and so German law does not
provide her with the ability to
change her registered gender there.
While the Registry told the Grape-
vine that they are following the “guid-
ing principle” of international civil
law, Alda has appealed the matter.
More in-depth coverage of this story
can be found at grapevine.is/news.
Trans Woman Denied
Proper Name And
Gender Re!istration
Despite le#al chan#es, the National Re#istry
plays by old rules
Words:
Andie Fontaine

Photo:
Alda Vigdís
Skarphé"insdóttir
First
Odd as it may seem today, there was
a time when Icelanders drove in the
le! lane. However, that changed in
1968, and we sought out historian
Stefán Pálsson to explain why:
“That Iceland didn’t switch to the
right lane before 1968 can be ex-
plained by a blend of laziness and
unluckiness. The Danes adopted right
lane traffic, like most European na-
tions, in the wake of the French Revo-
lution. Although Iceland was a Danish
colony, it didn’t occur to us to import
this rule—ultimately, it was hard to
talk about actual roads or traffic in
Iceland at that time.
“Cars arrived in the early 20th cen-
tury, and as they grew in number, the
pressure grew to adopt tra$c laws
that would be in harmony with our
neighbouring countries, especially
as the cars we were importing were
designed for right lane tra$c.
“We finally decided to make the
change in 1940. However, shortly
before the regulation was enacted,
Iceland became occupied by the Brit-
ish, who of course drive on the le", so
it was considered wisest to wait on
making the switch.
“By the end of the 1960s, Iceland
was facing a monumental transpor-
tation infrastructure project, and
it was clear that it would be expen-
sive to make any changes to it once
complete. And so it was decided to
push ourselves into the traffic lane
used by the rest of Europe. This was
undoubtedly encouraged by Sweden
making the switch in 1967. The Swed-
ish government had actually decided
on the switch many years before, but
made the mistake of putting it up for
referendum, and the right lane traf-
fic was resoundingly defeated. The
government had the sense next time
around not to ask the people what
they thought.”
ASK A
Historian
Q: Why Did Iceland
Switch From Driving
On The Right To
The Left?
6 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 17— 2019
FOOD OF ICELAND
NEWS
Alda Vigdís Skarphé"insdóttir
Words: Andie Fontaine
Photo: Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
More info and tickets
lavacentre.is
Open every day
9:00 - 19:00
Volcano &
Earthquake
Exhibition
LAVA Centre is an awarded, interactive exhibition
on Icelandic volcanoes and earthquakes. Learn
about the most active Icelandic volcanoes and
see all the latest eruptions in 4K. Lava Centre is
a mandatory stop on your Golden Circle or South
Coast adventure.
Located in Hvolsvöllur
80 min drive from Reykjavík
Photo: Eyjafjallajökull Eruption 2010