A good question... when I get frustrated by cross-cultural issues I ask it of myself. There are days when I have to ask it a lot. Why-oh-why?
I never had any real plans to go to Iceland. My first trip was almost accidental, certainly casual. Sarah was going for a long weekend of horse-shopping.
"You want to come along?"
"Sure, why not?"
Those few days ended up changing my life by getting me on a horse and which then made me wonder what it really meant to be on a horse, particularly an Icelandic horse. I made a few more trips and I became more aware of Iceland itself.
The landscape and the geology always get the attention in this "land of fire and ice". True, they are beautiful and to a geologist, fascinating.
But it is the history and culture of the Icelanders that I find most compelling.
Let me explain...
Until 873 there were only a few Irish monks in Iceland when the Vikings arrived. These same Vikings who had been plundering Europe now came over to an empty land and found themselves with no one to rape and pillage. What could they do?
So they settled it!
Let's remember, Iceland was way out there in the cold and stormy North Atlantic. This was the in day before stopovers between Europe and America. For centuries Iceland was isolated from the rest of the world.
And these Vikings, isolated and tempered by hardship for centuries -- really until just before World War II -- evolved a culture.
They preserved a lot that remains today such as the ancient horse and in their language which still remains Old Norse.
And while I've never seen or heard of anyone running around in skins with battle axes, yet some old culture remains.
