As my time in Iceland has come to a close, I owe it a proper farewell. A moment, or more of an essay, to reflect on everything I have learned from this remarkable nation, coined the world's "biggest small country". To this end, I'm lucky that Iceland is home to the Nobel Prize winning author Halldor Laxness, author of the classic Independent People to help out. I'm currently reading this book and will share a few of my favorite quotes. Laxness won the Prize for Literature in 1955 and is renowned as a hero alongside the Saga's Viking's in Iceland. His Nobel Prize also gives Iceland the world's highest figure on "Nobel Prize winners per capita", another point of national pride!
A teenager I met on the roads of Reykjavik told me the most important part of their culture is to "own land" and "owe nobody anything". As the American aluminum industry consumes Iceland's energy and natural resources, this attitude especially pertains to the United States, which is according to Laxness "a land even more remote...which is farther than death.” Independent People chronicles the life of Bjartur of Summerhouses, who battles all odds to live on a cursed land, and hence feel his sense of autonomy in the world. This "independence" is integral to his authenticity and sense of purpose. We see through Bjartur a dark but fascinating perspective on the human condition, one which thrives on isolation and practicality, but at the same time shines through with dignity and love, which we ultimately see Bjartur has for his daughter Asta Sollilja. His story is sometimes inspiring as well, especially when he admits that dreams can come true, though not in the generic "cheesy" way we often see in Western media. “The most remarkable thing about a man's dreams is that they will all come true; this has always been the case, though no one would care to admit it. And a peculiarity of man's behavior is that he is not in the least surprised when his dreams come true; it is as if he expected nothing else. The goal to be reached and the determination to reach it are brother and sister, and slumber in the same heart.” Though a novel cannot capture a people, this quote has struck me as the best characterization of the Icelandic cultural mentality, also described by the phrase "þetta reddast". The idea is that everything will work out, and our role as humans is to live in the present and enjoy the moments given to us rather than dwell on events past or yet to come. When I first arrived, Iceland struck me as a fantastical paradise between the past and the future, almost a Martian version of the Garden of Eden. A place thriving on modern lifestyle but not yet afflicted with the energy crisis or fears of climate change. However, now I see Iceland is not Eden before the fall, rather it is a timeless wonder of nature free from traditional human constraints. And this is because the culture here strives to liberate itself from the limits, the norms, and the routines that hold much of our civilization in a trance. Spending a summer here has given me a much deeper conception of what it is to be human.
In Halldor Laxness's words, “the life of man is so short that ordinary people simply cannot afford to be born”. And that is why ordinary people don't exist. Thank you Iceland, for showing me how extraordinary our world and its people are. I am beyond grateful for this experience abroad and will carry a piece of þetta reddast for the rest of my life.
A teenager I met on the roads of Reykjavik told me the most important part of their culture is to "own land" and "owe nobody anything". As the American aluminum industry consumes Iceland's energy and natural resources, this attitude especially pertains to the United States, which is according to Laxness "a land even more remote...which is farther than death.” Independent People chronicles the life of Bjartur of Summerhouses, who battles all odds to live on a cursed land, and hence feel his sense of autonomy in the world. This "independence" is integral to his authenticity and sense of purpose. We see through Bjartur a dark but fascinating perspective on the human condition, one which thrives on isolation and practicality, but at the same time shines through with dignity and love, which we ultimately see Bjartur has for his daughter Asta Sollilja. His story is sometimes inspiring as well, especially when he admits that dreams can come true, though not in the generic "cheesy" way we often see in Western media. “The most remarkable thing about a man's dreams is that they will all come true; this has always been the case, though no one would care to admit it. And a peculiarity of man's behavior is that he is not in the least surprised when his dreams come true; it is as if he expected nothing else. The goal to be reached and the determination to reach it are brother and sister, and slumber in the same heart.” Though a novel cannot capture a people, this quote has struck me as the best characterization of the Icelandic cultural mentality, also described by the phrase "þetta reddast". The idea is that everything will work out, and our role as humans is to live in the present and enjoy the moments given to us rather than dwell on events past or yet to come. When I first arrived, Iceland struck me as a fantastical paradise between the past and the future, almost a Martian version of the Garden of Eden. A place thriving on modern lifestyle but not yet afflicted with the energy crisis or fears of climate change. However, now I see Iceland is not Eden before the fall, rather it is a timeless wonder of nature free from traditional human constraints. And this is because the culture here strives to liberate itself from the limits, the norms, and the routines that hold much of our civilization in a trance. Spending a summer here has given me a much deeper conception of what it is to be human.
In Halldor Laxness's words, “the life of man is so short that ordinary people simply cannot afford to be born”. And that is why ordinary people don't exist. Thank you Iceland, for showing me how extraordinary our world and its people are. I am beyond grateful for this experience abroad and will carry a piece of þetta reddast for the rest of my life.