I live in Iceland, which is place people have a lot of ‘interesting facts’ about that they saw on Facebook or heard on a podcast. The facts are often not facts at all, though there is often a grain of truth that has been exaggerated or misunderstood.
Here are a few of the most common ones you see these days:
Icelanders believe in elves and fairies. Yes, there are elves (‘hidden folk’) in traditional Icelandic folklore and yes, some people do still believe the old folklore, just like there are people everywhere who believe in ghosts or healing crystals or the evil eye. A road was once diverted to go around an elf rock. Most people do not believe in elves anymore, but it’s a cute thing to exaggerate for tourists.
Icelanders have an app to check whether they are related before they shag each other. This was a joke which some people took seriously for some reason. Icelanders have thorough genealogical records going back to the 9th century, which is very interesting. These records have been put online and if you have an Icelandic national ID number, you can log in and see your genealogy back to the settlement (if your ancestors have been in Iceland that long). You can put in another person to see at what point your family trees converge, which is interesting, but people do not use it to check whether Óli is their cousin because they already know the people in their own extended family. Incest is not an issue in Iceland.
Icelanders have a cute custom called jólabókaflóð where they exchange books on Christmas Eve and spend the evening reading and drinking hot chocolate. This is one that got going recently and has been encouraged for the tourists. Jólabókaflóð means Christmas book flood and it’s a thing in the publishing business – it just means that a lot of books are published in the run up to Christmas because that’s when you get the best sales. I think the same is true in most places to some extent. Yes, books are a common Christmas present (like everywhere that celebrates Christmas?). But Icelanders open all their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve – it’s the main event. Some people might spend the evening reading, but most spend it socialising with family – eating, drinking, playing games, kids playing with their new toys. There is no ‘books and hot chocolate on Christmas Eve’ tradition in Iceland.
So if you ever said ‘Did you know, in Iceland…’ and it was one of these, now you know.
What are some of the ‘interesting facts’ about where you live that are not facts? I’d love to know!