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PHOTO BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON DAYBREAK AT EYJAFJÖLL, SOUTH ICELAND, IN EARLY DECEMBER.
4 FROM THE EDITOR
6 CULTURE CLUB
Fashion, books, films, music, art, photography, design and
so much more.
14 RIDING THE WAVE
Acclaimed actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson recounts to Eygló Svala
Arnarsdóttir his experience of playing the sole survivor of
a sea accident in The Deep.
20 ÁSGEIR TRAUSTI IN TECHNICOLOR
Nic Cavell sits down with hit musician Ásgeir Trausti Einarsson
and asks him about his passions and inspirations.
24 PEAK PHYSIQUE
Mica Allan probes Annie Mist Þórðardóttir, the world’s fittest woman,
about her route to success.
26 THE IMAGE MAKERS
Creative sisters Lilja and Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir tell Páll Stefánsson
about the designs they’ve made for Iceland’s music elite.
30 SIX HOURS AND FOUR MINUTES
Páll Stefánsson takes his camera to Iceland’s southernmost locations,
catching glimpses of the elusive winter light and landscapes
cast in near darkness.
38 ICELAND’S OTHER INHABITANTS
Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir and illustrator Erna Kristín Gylfadóttir
collaborate on painting a picture of the colorful features
of Iceland’s mammals.
44 SPELL OF SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR
Zoë Robert and photographer Áslaug Snorradóttir take a trip to
Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland’s artistic hub, and chat with locals
and newcomers about the town’s attraction.
50 THE HEATING ELEMENT
Páll Stefánsson reveals the reason Iceland is inhabitable.
52 KEEPING PARADISE
Foreign tourists could reach one million in a few years.
Is it good news for Iceland or will the costs outgrow
the benefits? Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir investigates.
58 HEAVEN IN THE MORNING
Deb Smith orders coffee and pancakes at the Reykjavík
wharf one cold winter morning and finds heaven.
61 WORLDS OF FIRE
Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir traces the history of the 1973
volcanic eruption in the Westman Islands, 40 years ago.
64 COVER STORY
Iceland Review celebrates its 50 th anniversary this year.
Co-founder and editor Haraldur J. Hamar discusses the
magazine’s origins and praises its first designer,
Gísli B. Björnsson.
68 HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME
Icelanders will go to the polls in April 2013.
But can politicians reclaim the trust of voters by then?
70 FACTS & FIGURES
Curious stats about a quaint island nation.
72 DOWNHILL FROM HERE
As part of Iceland Review’s ‘Special Promotion’ section, we
cover the country’s main ski resorts.
80 LAST PAGE
Páll Stefánsson is inspired by words of wisdom under his feet.
ICELAND REVIEW 3

ICELAND
REVIEW
ATLANTICA
FROM THE EDITOR
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
Multiply 17,239 by 41 and you get close
to 700,000, the number of foreign
tourists who visited Iceland last year,
2012. The first figure, 17,239, is the number of
visitors to Iceland 50 years ago, 1963, the year the
first issue of Iceland Review was published.
From the first editorial: “Progress in transportation
is tying closer together the continents of the
world. Man must not fall behind the progress of
technology. He must establish new ties of commerce
between countries from which follows
friendship between individuals and nations, peace
as well as prosperity.”
In this issue, we meet designer Gísli B. Björnsson,
who designed the magazine for the first 20
years. Haraldur J. Hamar, the co-founder and editor
for the first 38 years, gives us the inside story
about how and why the magazine came to life
(page 64).
Publisher Benedikt Jóhannesson
Head Office
Heimur hf.
Borgartún 23, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland
PHOTO BY ÁSLAUG SNORRADÓTTIR
Tel: (+354) 512 7575
icelandreview@icelandreview.com
Printed in Iceland by Oddi
Deputy Editor Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir looks
into the numbers, those 700,000 heads who
dropped by last year to visit Planet Iceland, in her
extensive feature ‘Keeping Paradise’ (page 52).
“We who live in Iceland cannot enjoy what the
country has to offer anymore, the majestic wild and
untouched nature, because there are people everywhere,”
MP Þór Saari tells Eygló.
How many tourists can Iceland take? In four
years, visitors will number one million, three times
the country’s inhabitants.
Talking about small communities… Seyðisfjörður,
a village in the East Fjords, population
660, was invaded by journalist Zoë Robert and
photographer Áslaug Snorradóttir, in the dead of
winter, as reported in their story ‘Spell of Seyðisfjörður’
(page 54).
In this issue we also talk to a powerful woman,
creative sisters and a big actor, the next pop star
and, of course, cover some sheep. Eygló takes a
closer look at ‘Iceland’s Other Inhabitants’ (page
38) where you will meet them all, so to speak,
through illustrations by Erna Kristín Gylfadóttir.
What else?
A new Icelandic design flagship store, ATMO,
some fact and figures, and naturally the Icelandic
landscape. This time we visit the southern part of
the country (page 30), which is the magnet, the
reason why so many people visit this small rock in
the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The best time to come is now, in mid-winter,
when you’re all alone.
The screaming silence. That is the best Iceland
can offer.
Páll Stefánsson
ps@icelandreview.com
Advertising Sales helga@heimur.is
For daily news from Iceland:
www.icelandreview.com
EDITOR
Páll Stefánsson
DEPUTY AND
FEATURES EDITORS
Ásta Andrésdóttir (on leave)
Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir
DESIGN
Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Deb Smith
Haraldur J. Hamar
Mica Allan
Nanna Árnadóttir
Nic Cavell
Zoë Robert
CONTRIBUTING
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Áslaug Snorradóttir
Geir Ólafsson
Guðmundur Ingólfsson
Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir
Ívar Brynjólfsson
Lilja Birgisdóttir
Sigurgeir Jónasson
ILLUSTRATIONS
Erna Kristín Gylfadóttir
WEB EDITOR
Zoë Robert
COPY EDITORS
Julie Ingham
Zoë Robert
PRODUCTION
Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson
COLOR PRODUCTION
Páll Kjartansson
ADVERTISING SALES
Helga Möller
COVER PHOTO
Páll Stefánsson
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION (WORLDWIDE) USD 50 or equivalent in other currencies.
Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Submissions should be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope and
an international money order to cover postage, if return is required. No articles in this magazine may be reproduced elsewhere in
whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. ISSN 0019-1094. Iceland Review (ISSN:0019-1094) is published quarterly
by Heimur hf. in Iceland and distributed in the USA by SPP 75 Aberdeen Road Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid
at Emigsville PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Iceland Review P.O. BOX 437 Emigsville PA 17318-0437.
4 ICELAND REVIEW

0I
CULTURE CLUB
PHOTO BY GODDURC
6 ICELAND REVIEW

0I
ATMOsphere
ATMO
Laugavegur 89, 101 Reykjavík, atmo.is
Open Mondays-Saturdays 11am-6pm,
Sundays 11am-5pm
ATMO, a new design store opened
on Laugavegur 89, 101 Reykjavík,
in November. On two floors, it
carries work by close to 60 Icelandic
designers of the labels: Alrun, As
We Grow, Atikin, Bility, Birna, Boas
Kristjansson, Bolabítur, Cintamani,
Crymogea, Demo, EGF, Eggert
feldskeri, Embracing Faith, Færið,
Gló, Go With Jan, Hanna Felting,
Helicopter, Hendrikka Waage, Hildur
Yeoman, Hlín Reykdal, Hringa, Huginn
Muninn, Icewear, Ígló, Tréleikföng
Jóhönnu, Líber, Luka, Marta Jónsson,
Mundi, Nikita, Postulína, REY,
Reykjavík Letter Press, Reykjavík
Rocks, Sápusmiðjan, Scintilla, She,
Skaparinn, Skyn Iceland, Sóley,
Spakmannsspjarir, Spíral, Staka,
Stáss, Steinunn, Sunbird, Tulipop,
Umemi, Una Skincare, Varma, Vík
Prjónsdóttir and Villimey.
Bolli Kristinsson, one of the people
behind the project, told Iceland
Review that it is great to see so many
designers under one roof. “When you
see all this Icelandic design in one
place you are surprised by the quality,
and there is something, as different
as the design is, that is common; you
sense that it is Icelandic.”
The basement houses the secondhand
store 9 líf, operated by the
Icelandic Red Cross, and the healthfood
restaurant Gló, offering meals
and refreshments, is also located in
the ATMO building—the perfect onestop
shop. PS
ICELAND REVIEW 7

CULTURE CLUB
02 05
GRAY MATTER
CITY STATE
Ólafur Jóhannesson
Entertainment One
Released in October 2011, City State (Borgríki) by director
Ólafur Jóhannesson features a star league of artists, the
most famous of whom are British actors Jonathan Pryce
and Philip Jackson, appearing in supporting roles.
Icelandic gangster Gunnar (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) must
fight off competition from Serbian mechanic-turned-criminal
Sergej (Zlatko Krickic), backed by the Balkan mafia. Gunnar,
however, has the Icelandic police on his side; officer Margeir
(Sigurður Sigurjónsson) likes to call in favors at Gunnar’s brothel. Meanwhile, detective Andrea
(Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir) starts a personal vendetta after the gangsters attack her lover.
The focus shifts between all four main characters and viewers discover that there is nothing
black and white about their stories. All are capable of doing both good and bad. ESA
03
04
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM
RETRO STEFSON
Retro Stefson
Vertigo Berlin/Universal Music
Known for their upbeat alternative music with afro-pop
influences, Retro Stefson is a seven-piece band of
friends who started playing together back in 2006. They
have a fun and adventurous approach to music that’s
really infectious and sort of makes you want to skip
work and dance on the sidewalk.
Their anticipated third album, also called Retro Stefson, came out in October. Overall,
it has an electronic feel and on some tracks, like ‘Qween’ and ‘Time,’ there are these
80s elements. Then there are slower tracks, like ‘Solaris,’ but if you want something
unmistakably Retro Stefson, play ‘Glow’ and ‘She Said.’
The album was nominated for this year’s Nordic Music Prize and earned the band six
nominations at the Icelandic Music Awards. NÁ
TWIN SOUND
TWOSOMENESS
Pascal Pinon
Morr Music
Named after the Two-Headed Mexican (1889-1929),
Pascal Pinon is a duo comprised of twin sisters Jófríður
and Ásthildur Ákadóttir, who recently released their
second album Twosomeness.
The sound in the 12 intimate songs is unified, a
kind of twosomeness which is hard to describe. When
listening to it you find yourself in a realm where everything seems to fall into place.
My favorite track is ‘Þerney (one thing),’ where they sing: “I don’t need anything; I just
make something beautiful.” PS
BYE-BYE GOOD
NIGHT’S SLEEP
I REMEMBER YOU
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Hodder & Stoughton
In I Remember You (Ég man þig;
2010), Icelandic crime author
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir throws logical
explanations out the window and
gives free rein to fantasy.
A young couple and their
recently-widowed friend go to an
abandoned village in the remote
West Fjords to renovate a house
in the dead of winter. Soon,
strange and scary things start to
happen, and to their horror, they
cannot leave the village.
Meanwhile, a psychiatrist, who
has recently moved to the region
to escape haunting memories
of a son who disappeared and
a mentally-disturbed ex-wife,
discovers links between
vandalism at a local kindergarten
and old unsolved cases.
According to The Independent,
Yrsa’s writing is equal to that
of horror master Stephen
King in creating a hair-raising
atmosphere. ESA
8 ICELAND REVIEW

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CULTURE CLUB
06
FREAKY FUTURAMA
LOVE STAR
Andri Snær Magnason
Seven Stories Press
In sci-fi Love Star, Icelandic author
and environmentalist Andri Snær
Magnason of widely-published ‘selfhelp
book’ Dreamland and children’s
book Blue Planet, provides a freaky
futuristic outlook for Iceland.
A mad scientist who goes by
the name Love Star has created a
business empire out of marketing
love and death. A computer program
can guarantee true love and after
death people wish to be rocketed
out to space. In life, people are fed
information, have given up their free will and are happily controlled by the
market.
At times laugh-out-loud, Love Star also has a serious undertone. ESA
07
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER
REYKJAVÍK MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Guðmundur Ingólfsson, Kvosin 1986 & 2011
January 26 – May 12, 2013
Guðmundur Ingólfsson (born 1948) is one of the
grand masters of Icelandic photography. For this
exhibition he revisited Kvosin in the heart of the
capital, taking pictures of the same places he did 25
years ago, with a 8x10 large format camera in black
and white. The new pictures are in 4x5 large format
and in color.
As Guðmundur put it in a recent interview with
lesphotographes.com: “I’m inspired by curiosity. I
ended up documenting Reykjavík a lot. It started in
the 80s and I’m still doing it. The city is changing
very quickly and I think there should be a few
photographers that document the city. Each time
they take a photo, the camera should be leveled
and they should note the day and time, like a sort of
surveillance. I’m not that exact with my work though.
Almost every city is documented like that, but since
no one is doing it in Reykjavík, I try to do so as my
time allows.” PS
08
BREWING UP A
STORM
STORMLAND
Marteinn Þórsson
Samfilm
In Stormland (Rokland;
2011), director Marteinn
Þórsson’s adaptation of
Hallgrímur Helgason’s
novel by the same name,
high-school teacher
Böddi is hopelessly
waiting to have his novel
published. Inspired
by Saga hero Grettir
and German philosopher Nietzsche, he writes a blog to vent his
frustration at the greed-driven Icelandic society. The object of
Böddi’s affection ignores him and he feels misunderstood by the
small-town community where he lives. Then life unexpectedly
takes a new turn, escalating towards a bombastic showdown.
Actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson earned the 2011 Edda, the Icelandic
Film and Television Award, for his portrayal of Böddi. ESA
10 ICELAND REVIEW

Welcome to
SNOWMOBILES
MONSTER TRUCKS
SUPER JEEPS
www.istex.is
Warm thoughts
Every moment with your loved ones is invaluable.
Don’t let it slip away. Enjoy it to the fullest.
You only live once…
Tel. (+354) 580 9900
ice@mountaineers.is - www.mountaineers.is
Aðalstræti 10
Monday - Friday 9:00 - 20:00
Saturday 10:00 - 17:00
Sunday 12:00 - 17:00
i c e l a n d i c d e s i g n

CULTURE CLUB
CULTURE CLUB
HAPPY 150 TH ANNIVERSARY!
FISTFUL OF HISTORY
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ICELAND
Suðurgata 41, 101 Reykjavík
Open Tuesdays through Sundays, 11am-5pm
09
PHOTO BY ÍVAR BRYNJÓLFSSON
The National Museum of Iceland celebrates its 150 th
anniversary in February 2013. Its beginnings are traced
back to the donation of ancient relics to the country’s
pioneers in archaeology in 1863.
The hnefatafl chess pieces in the picture were
among these objects, found in a pagan grave
at Baldursheimur in the rural Mývatn district,
Northeast Iceland, in 1860-61.
The grave is believed to date back to the tenth
century. The body was laid to rest in full armor,
carrying a sword, ax, spear and shield. The grave,
which is among the most opulent ever found in
Iceland, also contained other objects for the warrior to
use in the afterlife, including the hnefatafl.
The Viking board game is comprised of chess pieces
made from whale bone or walrus tooth, an oblong die from the
leg bone of a large animal and the 3.9-centimeter high figurine to
the left. It is thought to represent the hnefi (‘fist’), after which the game is
named.
The figurine is one of few complete carvings of a human image that
exist in the Nordic countries, and therefore the little bone chess piece is
considered the most notable relict found in the Baldursheimur grave. ESA
12 ICELAND REVIEW

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RIDING THE WAVE
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson’s roles range from macho marine engineers, to mentally-disabled
gentle giants, to party-loving playboys. Through the lead in Baltasar Kormákur’s critically-acclaimed
docudrama The Deep (Djúpið), which premiered at the 2012 Toronto
International Film Festival, he proved that he is among Iceland’s top artists. The film
was selected as the country’s contribution for the 2013 Oscar race.
BY EYGLÓ SVALA ARNARSDÓTTIR
PORTRAIT BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON
With a genuine smile through his rough beard, Ólafur
Darri Ólafsson welcomes me to the corner table
where he is seated at the hip new eatery Bergsson
mathús by the Reykjavík pond as I hurry inside from the pouring
rain one gloomy autumn day. But before I get a chance to ask
Darri, as he is called, about his latest film, a middle-aged woman
hesitantly moves towards our table. “May I just say ‘thank you’?” she
asks, explaining how deeply touched she was by his performance
in The Deep, adding that she comes from the Westman Islands
(Vestmannaeyjar) where it is set. Darri humbly accepts her praise.
HIGHS AND LOWS
The film is based on the incredible feat of Guðlaugur Friðþórsson,
a fisherman in the Westman Islands, who swam three nautical miles
for five hours in ice cold waters and then walked barefoot across
a rugged lava field for three hours to safety, after his ship, Hellisey
VE 503, sank one harsh winter’s day in 1984. The four other crew
members perished.
“It was no easy task but a rewarding experience. All ocean
scenes, apart from a few underwater shots that were taken in a
swimming pool, were actually filmed in the ocean, under authentic
“On location Darri is the gripper or lighting technician type. He
often sits with them, chatting and smoking. It isn’t until you see
the results on screen that you fathom his talent and presence.
He has the power, precision, nuance and understanding to make
any character come to life.” – Director/writer Óskar Jónasson
circumstances. Special effects weren’t used to any extent. It was
important to make the film as authentic as possible, not to give
a fake picture of what it was like being a fisherman at the time. I
was often at a loss and sometimes came close to giving up. I wasn’t
really going to give up but it just seemed so impossible at times.
Once when I hit a low, Baltasar [Kormákur, the director] told me
to imagine how great it would be at the premiere to be able to say
that we did it all for real—and he was right; we certainly enjoyed
the fruits of our labor.”
BRAVING THE COLD
While in real life Guðlaugur swam to shore in 5°C (41°F) cold
water in the dead of winter, most of the ocean shots for The Deep
were taken in early autumn 2010 when the ocean was about five
degrees warmer.
“The sea was cold but I wore a wetsuit. Cold comes and goes
and a cup of hot chocolate was waiting for me and it was great to
relax in the hot tub at the swimming pool in Garður afterwards.
Just wonderful. I always felt safe in the ocean, there were people
looking out for me. And to be honest, it was cozy at times, plainly
meditative to be carried with the waves. The hardest part was the
landing scene.” Darri refers to the scene where his character finally
reaches land and the wild surf knocks him against rocks on the
hostile beach. “We had to do it three times over three days. When
we made the shot that ended up being used in the scene it was very
windy and not without risk. But I was surrounded by good people
who were prepared to walk through fire for me.”
The crew usually followed the swimming Darri on a boat and
during the shots in the harbor in Garður—almost half of the ocean
shots—they stood on the pier. “It must have been enjoyable for
14 ICELAND REVIEW