iceland
Nordic dream or nightmare?: The Mark, by Frida Isberg, reviewed
A test has been developed in Iceland to assess a citizen’s sensitivity and potential for anti-social behaviour. Will the looming referendum make it compulsory?
Iceland’s scenery takes your breath away – but so do the prices
I’m writing this on the plane back from Iceland, a fact that fills me with relief. Not because I didn’t…
My Icelandic holiday with Kevin and Perry
I’m currently on holiday in Iceland. I say ‘holiday’, but I’m with my three teenage sons so it’s more like…
I failed my country at COP
I’m on my way to Glasgow for COP26. It’s the first time I have been abroad since before Covid. Conveniently…
Ghosts in a landscape: farming life through the eyes of Thomas Hennell
Thomas Hennell is one of that generation of painters born in 1903 whose collective achievements are such an adornment of…
I have never cared more about the price of milk in Iceland: The County reviewed
You may be asking yourself: have I reached that point in lockdown where I’m watching Icelandic dramas about the price…
Iceland’s melting glaciers are nothing to panic about
Is Iceland on the global warming front line? You’d be forgiven for thinking so. We’ve all seen the documentaries where…
Why Britain, like Iceland, will thrive outside the EU
I have no doubt that Britain will thrive after leaving the EU, whether or not it leaves with a deal.…
For any politician spoiling for a fight over Ireland’s border, Under the Tree is required viewing
Every so often there’s a news story in which neighbours quarrel over rampaging leylandii. The police are summoned, the case…
Iceland’s national composer returns from oblivion
The lur is a horn, modelled in bronze after a number of 3,000-year-old instruments discovered at various archaeological sites across…
Radio 3 offers a refreshing antidote to the current conversations about Europe
The season of Advent, for most children, means anticipation, gleeful waiting, the counting down of days. But after a certain…
Diary
I never expected to visit Iceland, let alone play cricket there. But the Iceland national team was off to play…
How does anyone keep up with all the good stuff out there on TV?
‘We have a problem. Yes. At the wind farm.’ Any conspiracy thriller with lines like that has definitely got my…
Scandi noir reduces you to an exquisitely suicidal state
Some things I have learned about Iceland after watching six episodes of Trapped (BBC4, Saturdays). 1. They seem to feel…
What Brexit would look like for Britain
Life outside the EU would be good for Britain
Euroscepticism is growing all over Europe
Europhiles have warned us for years of the dangers of Britain leaving the EU. But all the while a different…
Paganism is alive and well – but you won’t find it at a Goddess Temple
The rise of modern paganism – and the persistence of the real thing
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said that Britons who went to Syria or Iraq to fight could be stripped…
Radek Sikorski's diary: Show Putin what you think of him – eat a Polish apple
I made a welcome escape from sweltering Warsaw to the cloudy cool of Bodø, halfway up the coast of Norway,…
Why are Scandinavians so happy when they should be so sad?
As I sit here in my Sarah Lund Fair Isle sweater, polishing my boxed sets of Borgen and nibbling on…