I’ve Got these Facts About Iceland Down Cold

Posted on by masercot

best hot springs in iceland

[Sorry… illness, depression and work have kept me pretty busy]

The only mammal native to Iceland is the Arctic Fox. This means that, if you run over something while driving at night, you won’t have to check to see what you hit.

֍

Iceland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world; which seems impressive until you realize that, when compared to cities OUTSIDE the world, it is only average.

֍

In Iceland, children leave a shoe in their windows each of the thirteen days of their Christmas celebration; and, the next morning they find a gift in their shoes. Traditionally, the first gift is an anti-odor foot powder.

֍

Having a baby? The Icelandic Naming Committee decides what names are acceptable and which are banned. It was established in 1991; however, it was inactive for two years because they decided that “Icelandic Naming Committee” was not an acceptable name and then they just… disappeared.

֍

Iceland has no army. This normally isn’t a big deal except for an incident in 1963 where a man seized power in the country by wielding a board with a nail in it.

֍

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first female president… anywhere. She served from 1980 to 1996 when the Icelandic Naming Commission banned the name “Vigdis”…

֍

Water in Iceland is safe to drink from the tap, lakes, rivers, streams and the belly-buttons of strippers.

֍

There are over a hundred words for wind in Iceland. This might be annoying to the average citizen but it’s a positive boon for anyone writing a poem about wind.

֍

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was the first openly-gay prime minister of Iceland. Under Icelandic law, to be considered openly-gay, one must wear either a name tag or a special hat.

֍

Iceland has one of the oldest parliaments. It’s name is “Althing”. That’s right! It’s an Althing… you wouldn’t understand…

20 thoughts on “I’ve Got these Facts About Iceland Down Cold”

  2. There’s one problem with your first fact: Here in WI, people tend to run over other people and then claim they thought it was a deer so they didn’t check. The same could happen in Iceland with people and Arctic Foxes. But maybe they don’t drink as much in Iceland.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. ‘d be funny to see a white guy walk like Red Foxx. That’d be a sitcom in itself. Me? We need to sit across a Starbuck’s table and drone on about our health…

        Like

  5. I hear that the growing season in Iceland is from July 1 to July 12 (in a good year). On the Twelfth Night, they celebrate the harvest of their main crop, potatoes (which can amount to seven or more), by singing this song. Feel free to sing along.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a reply to DA Whittam Cancel reply

Unknown's avatar

Published by masercot