- "Pretty much all the witches burnt in Iceland during the great witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries were men – by a margin of several hundred to, I believe, two. Apparently witch-hunters who trained on the Continent got very confused when they arrived in Iceland." x
- "Witches from Iceland had farting runes (Fretrúnir) that they used against their enemies." x
- "The Holmavik Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft in Iceland contains a gruesome exhibit called the necropants. Let us just cut to the chase – these are pants made from the skin of the lower half of a dead person. When worn, these pants would produce money as long as a magic rune and a coin stolen from a poor widow were placed in the scrotum. x
- "The Icelandic Phallological Museum houses the world's largest display of penises and penile parts. The museum claims that its collection includes the penises of elves and trolls, though, as Icelandic folklore portrays such creatures as being invisible, they cannot be seen." x
- "There are 61 distinct names for the devil in Icelandic, but not all such words appear in writing and it is thus difficult to collect all the instances." x
- "In Iceland, drawing a map on your mail works just as well as an address." x
- "Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. Historically, a majority of books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November. It's a national tradition, and it has a name: Jolabokaflod, or the "Christmas Book Flood." Icelanders give the presents on the night of the 24th and people spend the night reading." x
- "There are no surnames or family names in Iceland. For the majority of Icelanders people have a last name that is comprised from their father's or mother's first name with the addition of -dóttir (-daughter) or -son. This means that a member of a family will have a different last name to both of their parents and their siblings of a different gender. This also means everyone is called by their first name (even the President)." x
- "Beer was banned in the whole country up until 1989." x
- "A 2007 poll that revealed that 54 percent of Icelanders don’t deny the existence of elves. The kicker, though, is that only 8 percent said they believe in them outright." x
- "Since the Icelandic police was established in 1803, its officers have only shot and killed one person." x
- "Iceland is part of NATO but has no standing army." x
jan 6 2017 ∞
dec 21 2024 +