Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Side 64

62 AT L A N T I CA
The Cowboy
Outside Reykjavík,
life in Iceland is a little more
country than rock n’ roll.
By Sara Blask.
Photos Páll Stefánsson.
The maroon paisley lining of Hallbjörn
Hjartarson’s signature black cowboy hat,
size seven and one-eighth inches, is splitting at the
seams. A white label sewn just above the inner
lining reveals that this ten-gallon – his favorite of
five – is “Made in USA.” It’s not a Stetson, but it’s
something you might see President Bush wearing
while he’s clearing brush in Crawford.
Hallbjörn, 71, is Iceland’s own celebrity cow-
boy and Skagaströnd, a tired fishing town in
northwest Iceland, is his unlikely home on the
range. The cod-laden waters of Húnaflói Bay
and snow-capped peaks of the West Fjords fill
the picture windows of the boxy, red house on
Hólanesvegur he’s owned for 40 years.
Directly across the street from his double-
chimneyed waterfront crib is a nondescript build-
ing that doubles as both the post office and the
town’s bank branch. And diagonally across from
Hallbjörn’s front door, at, say, two o’clock, is
Kántrýbaer, his venerated possession, his darling,
his sanctuary for country and all things western.
Kántrýbaer is the bar-cum-restaurant-cum-
saloon that Hallbjörn founded in 1983 when
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