1814

Today I was giving a tour of the museum to a group of journalists from Scandinavia (I felt a bit bad that I could not eke out more than three sentences in Norwegian before reverting to English). One of them was from Denmark, and after we'd done the tour, and were standing around having coffee, he asked about how people here in Iceland were handling the recession. I told him I thought it had been tough, but that maybe people's ideas about private companies and capitalism were changing a bit.

He then made the most wonderful point. He started talking about what had happened to Denmark in the early 19th century, about the loss of the fleet to the English in Copenhagen Harbor in 1809, and then the loss in the Napoleonic wars that forced Denmark to give Norway (and Iceland) to the Swedes. He said after these defeats, Denmark rallied, poured its energy into the arts and cultural fields, and from this sprang a new identity. He talked also about the events after WWII, when the Scandinavian countries worked to find cooperative projects after a difficult period. There was such warmth in what he was saying, so much compassion for what Iceland has endured, and it seemed to me marvelous, marvelous that he knew so much of his own history, that he interpreted it in such a sensitive and thoughtful way, instead of just dismissing the nationalism of the 19th century as silly.

I hope he says this to more people while he is here.

Comments

Morten Lange (Reykjavík) said…
Takk fyrir þessa frásögn. Gott að fá þannig hvatning, sem byggir á reynslu og jákvæðni og von sem ekki er innihaldslaus.

En reyndar þá fylgðu ekki Ísland og Grænland með þegar Danmörk "missti" Noreg til Sviþjóðar. Mér skilst reyndar að embættismaðurinn sem tók þátt í samninganna fyri hönd Svíþjóðar hafi ekki tekið eftir því að Danski samningarmaðurinn lagði ermið yfir þann hluta kortsins sem geymdi Ísland og Grænland. ( Sem fylgðu með þegar Danmörk tóku við stjórn Noregs um 1387, eftir að Svartidauði hefði farið illa með fjárhag og völd kongsættar og framamanna Noregs)

( I am not Icelandic, so there are probably some errors in there... )
September 5, 2009 at 1:00 AM
Lissy said…
Right, right, no I knew that. Exactly. Denmark managed to keep Iceland and Greenland but lost Norway. Bah! This is why I have never like quiz=trivia games, even when it is a fact I know very well, I can still overthink it. The thing that confused me was that Denmark got Iceland to begin with because Iceland was a province, basically, of Norway, as was the Faeroes and Greenland. Then Denmark and Norway agreed to become a joint kingdom, and then Norway lost its royal line. Anyhow, thanks for the correction.
September 6, 2009 at 11:40 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow ...
Read more

Cultural tourism in Iceland

I just finished writing a chapter of my dissertation, which resulted in a much larger discussion of cultural tourism in Iceland than I had intended. But the fact is, this is an issue I have been extremely interested and concerned about for at least 15 years, if not 20. I have never, ever liked the way Iceland is marketed to tourists in the U.S. Everything from the unspoiled nature to the crazy city life in Reykavik. It has always left the part of Iceland I loved--the simple joy of being in a relaxing and lovely place with my family--completely out of the picture. In 2001, I went to Hvollsvöllur to examine the Saga Centre as part of a study commissioned by the National Park's service to look into cultural landscapes as heritage tourism. I thought that endeavor might represent a change in how Iceland was presented to tourists. But in the last 10 years, and especially while working at Vikingaheimar, and at meetings with the Saga Trails Association, I came to see just how completel...
Read more

On Icelandic doctors

My friends and family here in Iceland were very enthusiastic about me going to the krabbameinsfélag for an exam. I was really impressed how easy it was to get an appointment--booked online even! And when I got there this afternoon, the efficiency continued: they have a well oiled operation in place there, all very organized with computers asking questions and keyed lockers to keep one's personal belongings in. Then when it came time to see the doctor, well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. And I paid 3420 kroner. So I was overall a little disappointed. When I mentioned to the front desk clerks that I was wondering if it was possible to actually get an appointment where I could speak to a doctor, I was given a variety of phone numbers. None of the ones I called had appointments within the next 6 weeks. In the United States, when I want a doctor's appointment, I can usually get it within a week of calling, though sometimes I have had to wait 10 days or so. The highest co-pay I hav...
Read more