NordenBladet – Sky Lagoon geothermal baths, under construction on Kársnes point in Kópavogur, in the capital area, will boast Iceland’s largest sauna, Morgunblaðið reports. The sauna will have an ocean view – including a view of Bessastaðir – the president’s residence – of the Reykjanes mountain range, and, when the visibility is good, of Snæfellsjökull glacier.
“Everything is in full swing and going great,” states Dagný Pétursdóttir, CEO of Sky Lagoon. “The project is on schedule, and we plan to begin operation in the spring. The timing depends in fact on the global situation. We’ll be ready. We hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
The project is reported to be among the largest ones in the Icelandic tourism industry in recent years. The estimated cost is roughly ISK 4 billion (USD 31.1 million; EUR 21.6 million).
Sky Lagoon is a cooperation between Nature Resort ehf., which is in charge of the construction, and the international travel experience company Pursuit, owned by Viad, which will operate the baths. Pursuit already operates the flight ride theater FlyOverIceland in Reykjavík.
The baths are designed to be ideal for relaxation, surrounded by Icelandic nature. A wall, made of rocks, has been raised around the baths, creating a frame around them.
“The birdlife around us is rich,” Dagný remarks, “and occasionally, we’ll see seals peeking at us. There is something incredibly relaxing and magical about sitting in here, watching the interplay of the ocean and the sky.”
She points at a huge windowpane and remarks, “This is the largest windowpane ever installed in Iceland. It weighs 2.4 tons, and I must admit my heart beat very fast while it was being hauled over here and installed. But the outcome is magnificent.”
NordenBladet —According to RUV, Icelanders streamed music 1.2 billion times during 2020, as shown from data provided by the Icelandic Association of Record Publishing Companies.
Spotify was noted as the dominating streaming service, with Icelanders streaming on the platform 1.1 billion times. Icelandic music made up to 18 percent of the total, with popular artists Bríet, Bubbi Morthens, JóiPé & Króli, Auður, and Ásgeir topping the list.
In total, Icelandic artists and record publishers earned near to 250 million ISK throughout 2020, roughly 2 million USD, the highest profit in Iceland for musicians over the past decade.
NordenBladet —NEAFC is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for fisheries management in international waters in the North-East Atlantic. Its Contracting Parties are Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Union, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom.
In opening the meeting, the President Mr Jacques Verborgh, welcomed the United Kingdom as NEAFC’s newest Contracting Party, having acceded to the Convention on 7th October 2020. The President noted that NEAFC regulated fisheries had continued throughout the pandemic period at fairly normal levels of activity and catch. Furthermore, the organisation had been able to maintain its normal business and also its monitoring surveillance and control activities by virtual means where necessary.
At the Annual Meeting, NEAFC adopted conservation and management measures for the year 2021 for a number of fish stocks on the basis of the latest scientific advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). These stocks include blue whiting, herring, redfish in the Irminger Sea, Rockall haddock, blue ling and certain grenadiers.
Measures on mackerel will await the conclusion of coastal States consultations continuing later this month. While the focus for the management measures is related to the economic, social and environmental objectives of these fisheries, NEAFC also took a fishery measure focused solely on conservation by extending the current prohibition of fisheries directed at spurdog (picked dogfish). NEAFC also received further scientific advice from ICES to help it consider how to enhance protection of deep sea sharks, rays and chimaeras.
The protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as deep-sea corals and sponges, continues to be an important issue for NEAFC. NEAFC has for many years closed bottom fisheries in all areas where VMEs are known to occur or likely to occur according to scientific advice. This year’s ICES advice did not require any extension of such areas but NEAFC amended its regulations to make clear the vast majority of the Regulatory Area was in fact restricted if not closed to bottom fisheries. In addition, NEAFC has since last year put in place improvements to its monitoring control and surveillance to identify any suspicious activity by fishing vessels in the High Seas areas.
NEAFC agreed further elements of its Electronic Reporting System to enhance monitoring, control and enforcement. This is a system based on the UN/CEFACT FLUX standard for sustainable fisheries management that has now started to be implemented in 2020 by some Contracting Parties, and the agreements this year will help all the Contracting Parties to ultimately reach the same level of implementation.
NEAFC’s cooperation with other international organisations was highlighted at the Annual Meeting, this continued despite a reliance on virtual engagement rather than attendance at physical meetings. NEAFC has also enhanced the access of observers to its future meetings through amendments to the relevant rules of procedure.
Cooperating non-Contracting Party status for the Bahamas, Canada and New Zealand was renewed for the year 2021. These States will cooperate with NEAFC and, in some cases, deploy vessels for transhipment operations in the NEAFC Convention Area.
The meeting concluded with welcoming its new President for 2021 onwards, Janet Nørregaard (from Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland). It also thanked Jacques Verborgh for his excellent work as the President of NEAFC over the last 4 years as well as a long and active involvement in the organisation over more than 20 years, helping establish the Secretariat and leading in particular the work on computerisation of the Scheme of Control and Enforcement.
NordenBladet —Iceland is among 145 destinations to adopt the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) global safety and hygiene stamp, which was launched earlier this year. The Safe Travels stamp was developed as the first of its kind to help restore confidence in travellers and aims to revive an ailing Travel & Tourism sector. It is now being used by over 145 destinations, including major holiday hotspots such as Puerto Rico, Philippines, Portugal, Turkey and Maldives.
The stamp allows travellers to identify which destinations around the world have adopted standardised global health and hygiene protocols – so they can experience ‘Safe Travels’.
This landmark move by WTTC also received the backing of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The launch of global protocols to recover the Travel & Tourism sector have been embraced by over 200 CEO’s, including some of the world’s major tourism groups.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the success of our Safe Travels stamp. More than 145destinations now proudly use the stamp, all of which are working together to help rebuild consumer confidence worldwide. Global coordination is more important than ever in the road to recovery.
“As the stamp continues growing in popularity, travellers will more easily be able to recognise destinations around the world which have adopted these important standardised global protocols, encouraging the return of ‘Safe Travels’ around the world.
“The success of the stamp shows its importance both to countries and destinations, but also to travellers and the 330 million people around the world who work in and depend on, a thriving the Travel & Tourism sector.”
Mr. Skarphedinn Berg Steinarsson, Director General, Icelandic Tourist Board, said:
“The Icelandic Tourist Board has implemented Clean & Safe guidelines for tourism businesses who are working hard to adhere to government and public health and is committed to achieve traveller confidence and ensure safety. The guidelines are aligned with WTTC, to whom we want to express our gratitude for its effort in establishing and developing the new global safety stamp and Safe Travels protocols.
“As the tourism industry starts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and people feel like travelling again, it is important that tourism companies are ready to welcome their guests and customers in a safe and responsible way. Global collaboration with harmonised guidelines is vital and help us in achieving this goal, to restore the public’s confidence in the tourism sector for future travel.
The widespread adoption of the stamp demonstrates that WTTC and all its Members from around the world have the safety and hygiene of travellers as their top priority.
Evidence from WTTC’s Crisis Readiness report, which looked at 90 different types of crises in the last 20 years, highlights the importance of public-private cooperation and the implementation of standardised protocols.
WTTC has been at the forefront of leading the private sector in the drive to rebuild global consumer confidence and encourage the return of Safe Travels.
According to WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.
NordenBladet – Most people who have visited Reykjavík are no doubt familiar with the Mál og Menning book store, at Laugavegur 18. On Friday, it was announced that the store has been permanently closed. “The day Laugavegur became a pedestrian street, our sales plummeted,” Arndís Björg Sigurgeirsdóttir, co-owner of the store, tells mbl.is .
Mál og Menning book store was operated for 59 years. Seven years ago, Arndís and her wife Bára Kristinsdóttir took over the business. They closed the store temporarily May 28 and had intended to reopen in November, but the plans have changed – both as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and because this part of Laugavegur has become a pedestrian zone.
“Things went really well until 2017,” Arndís states, but that’s when street closures and projects began affecting the business. Project after project called for the temporary closure of streets: “Hverfisgata was closed, half of Lækjargata, Snorrabraut was closed, in addition to side streets,” she states.
Sales diminished by up to 30 percent during the last three years. “We, the merchants on Laugavegur, had been expecting to finally recover, and that’s when COVID-19 came along, which no one could control.”
Still, Arndís stresses that the pandemic is not the main reason for the closure: “The reason Mál og Menning did not survive this summer was the street closures,” she states.
Plans are for a bar to open where the book store was located. It will carry the same name as the book store. “That’s sad,” Arndís laments, “because such a bar could just as well be located elsewhere than precisely here.”
The book store is among the buildings featured in the video “Deserted Buildings on Laugavegur.”
NordenBladet – A limited number of people will from now on be allowed to visit ice caves and to go glacier hiking within five areas in the southern part of Vatnajökull National Park, Morgunblaðið reports. The park received applications from 27 businesses specializing in such trips.
These applications have now been processed and the businesses have each been allocated a tourist quota within the five areas.
This is the first time that access to a natural resource such as glaciers is being controlled in this way, states Magnús Guðmundsson, manager of the park.
The goal of the policy is to protect nature by reducing tourist traffic in these areas. Magnús states that at times, far too many tourists have flocked to some of these areas, and that there has been next to no attempt to limit their numbers.
At present, contracts with the businesses which were allocated quotas are being finalized. “This has begun smoothly,” Magnús states. “I believe most people are pleased this process has started.”
Included in the plan are visits to ice caves and glacier hikes in five areas in the glaciers Breiðamerkurjökull – east and west side, Falljökull/Virkisjökull, Skeiðarárjökull and Skálafellsjökull. The maximum number of tourists allowed in these five areas a day is 650, 650, 1,000, 500 and 500, respectively.
Appplications were received for considerably higher numbers of tourists for the first three areas, or 1,564, 1,481 and 1,273, respectively, while applications for Skeiðarárjökull and Skálafellsjökul were below the maximum number.
This is a complicated and exciting project, Magnús states, which focuses on many aspects, including tourist safety.
On July 5, Vatnajökull National Park was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes landmarks regarded to have outstanding universal value in terms of culture, nature, or other areas, making them part of the world’s heritage.
Featured image: Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland (Davide Cantelli / Unsplash.com)
NordenBladet – One death from COVID-19 was announced on the website of Landspítali National University Hospital today – the first such death in Iceland during this wave of the disease. Ten people died during the first wave of the disease in Iceland in the spring. Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason stresses that this is not a harmless flu, and he expects news of the death to be a stark reminder to people of its severity.
He tells mbl.is that the latest COVID-19 figures in Iceland may be an indication this wave of the pandemic is beginning to subside. The ratio of people who are already in quarantine when diagnosed is slightly increasing, giving reason for optimism.
There were 67 new domestic cases confirmed in Iceland yesterday, and 67 percent of the people diagnosed were already in quarantine.
Although this wave of the pandemic may be subsiding, Þórólfur stresses it is essential for people to continue their disease prevention efforts, since the situation can still go either way.
Proportionally, as many people require hospitalization during this wave of the pandemic as during the first wave in the spring, although fewer people have required intensive care.
Þórólfur is not sure what decision authorities will make with regard to his most recent memo to the minister of health on disease prevention measures. Current restrictions will expire Monday, but Þórólfur finds it likely that similar restrictions will remain in effect for another two weeks.
NordenBladet – Iceland has long been known for its Naming Committee – a committee of three people and three substitutes whose role it is to determine which personal names are to be approved and which ones rejected in the country.
Current law requires that every name be able to have an Icelandic genitive ending, or that it have earned a tradition in the Icelandic language. Every name must be adaptable to the structure of the Icelandic language. It must be spelled according to Icelandic spelling rules, unless there is a tradition for writing it differently. Finally, a person’s name must not be such that it could cause its bearer embarrassment.
On Monday, Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir presented a bill in Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, where she proposed drastic changes to laws regarding personal names, including the abolishment of the Naming Committee.
If approved, Áslaug states, the bill would give people the liberty to carry any name they choose, adopt a new family name, and have as many names as they wish. Current law limits the number of given names to three.
Áslaug admits that opinions on the bill vary within her parliamentary group and among the other parties in government, but she describes the bill as a middle-of-the-road approach.
To give you examples of verdicts reached by the Naming Committee, the name Lucifer was rejected by its members in November of last year.The opposition was justified as follows:
“Since the name Lucifer is one of the devil’s names, the Naming Committee believes it could cause the bearer embarrassment. Besides, the spelling of the name Lucifer cannot be considered in accordance with the general spelling rules of the Icelandic language, since the letter c is not part of the Icelandic alphabet.”
In addition, the woman’s name Kona, meaning woman, was rejected by the committee in May of last year.
This drew attention, since critiques pointed out that there is a long tradition of men’s names in the Icelandic language such as Karl, Sveinn, and even Drengur, meaning man, young man, and boy, respectively.
NordenBladet —Meet in Reykjavík, the official convention bureau for Reykjavík city and the capital area, has joined forces with Promote Iceland. According to an agreement between Reykjavík’s city council executive committee, Promote Iceland and Icelandair, Meet in Reykjavík will be operated independently for MICE marketing and serve as both a national convention bureau for Iceland and as a city bureau for Reykjavík.
Promote Iceland is a public-private partnership established to lead the promotion and marketing of Iceland in foreign markets and stimulate economic growth through increased export.
The aim of the agreements is, first and foremost, to strengthen the promotion of Iceland and Reykjavík as a leading destination for meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE). Moreover, to increase operational efficiency and emphasize sustainable practices in the Icelandic Business travel industry.
Sigurjóna Sverrisdóttir, managing director of Meet in Reykjavík, says that these developments are an essential step for Meet in Reykjavík. “Our mission, of course, remains the same. To help MICE-planners create unforgettable events in a one-of-a-kind destination. Now, we’ll also have Promote Iceland’s collective knowledge and resources in our arsenal.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Meet in Reykjavík to our portfolio of projects,” says Pétur Th. Óskarsson, CEO of Promote Iceland. “This contract strengthens and extends our services and reflects our commitment to the Icelandic tourism industry’s long-term strategy. We know that it will take time for the MICE industry to recover after the COVID-19 outbreak. There are however numerous opportunities in this situation for Iceland, an environmentally friendly and safe destination and there is no doubt in my mind that Iceland will again be a thriving MICE -destination in the near future.”
NordenBladet – Njal’s Saga, the best-known among the sagas of the Icelanders, will finally be completed tonight – on tapestry, that is. Since February 2013 – for seven years and seven months – a group of about 20 women have gathered two nights a week, needle in hand, at the Icelandic Saga Centre in Hvolsvöllur, South Iceland, to sew a 90-meter-long tapestry depicting this famous saga, Morgunblaðið reports.
The location for the project is no coincidence, for this part of the country provided the setting for Njal’s Saga.
A Bayeux stitch, or laid couching work – a stitch used in the Viking Age – has been used for the project. The yarn is a type of Icelandic woolen yarn that has been dyed locally, using natural herbs. On average, about 13 meters have been sewn every year, according to the tapestry’s website.
Artist and literary scholar Kristín Ragna Gunnarsdóttir designed the pictures that were printed on the tapestry to be sewn.
All the work has been done on a voluntary basis, and numerous people have taken part in the project in addition to the core group of 20. Visitors to the Saga Centre who over the years have wished to take part in the stitching have received instruction and then recorded their name in a special book, along with the part of the project they have completed.
That book already includes 12,500 entries.
Shortly, the tapestry will formally be delivered to the local government of Rangárþing eystra, South Iceland. It remains to be seen where the public will be able to “read” this colorful version of Njal’s Saga, since suitable housing for it is still being sought.
______________________________
Njáls saga, Brennu-Njáls saga or “The Story of Burnt Njáll” is a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 and 1020.
The saga deals with a process of blood feuds in the Icelandic Commonwealth, showing how the requirements of honor could lead to minor slights spiralling into destructive and prolonged bloodshed. Insults where a character’s manhood is called into question are especially prominent and may reflect an author critical of an overly restrictive ideal of masculinity. Another characteristic of the narrative is the presence of omens and prophetic dreams. It is disputed whether this reflects a fatalistic outlook on the part of the author.
The principal characters in the saga are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnar Hámundarson, a formidable warrior. Gunnar’s wife instigates a feud that leads to the death of many characters over several decades including the killing by fire of the eponymous “Burnt Njáll”.
The work is anonymous, although there has been extensive speculation on the author’s identity. The major events described in the saga are probably historical but the material was shaped by the author, drawing on oral tradition, according to his artistic needs. Njáls saga is the longest and most highly developed of the sagas of Icelanders. It is often considered the peak of the saga tradition.
Njáls saga, like the other sagas of Icelanders, is anonymous. There are, however, many theories about the saga’s authorship. The oldest idea, attested in the early 17th century, is that Sæmundr fróði wrote the work. Other suggested authors include Sæmundr’s sons, Jón Loftsson, Snorri Sturluson, Einarr Gilsson, Brandr Jónsson and Þorvarðr Þórarinsson.
The saga is now believed to have been composed in the period from 1270 to 1290. Among written sources which the author likely used are Laxdæla saga, Eyrbyggja saga and Ljósvetninga saga as well as the lost sagas Brjáns saga and Gauks saga Trandilssonar. The author must, however, have derived the bulk of the material in the saga from oral tradition which he manipulated for his own artistic purposes. Opinions on the historicity of the saga have varied greatly, ranging from pure fiction to nearly verbatim truth to any number of nuanced views. It can be regarded as certain that Njáll and Gunnarr were real historical people and their fateful deaths are referred to in other sources. Gabriel Turville-Petre said, “It was not the author’s purpose to write a work of history, but rather to use a historical subject for an epic in prose”.
