What is the Reykjavik Grapevine? Your essential guide to life, travel and entertainment in Iceland. The Reykavík Grapevine is Iceland's biggest, best and most widely read English-language publication.

“I worry about the public’s declining trust in politics in general. That was my sense when I first went into politics. One of the first things I did was to travel the country on my own, meet people at ...

When foreign media outlets report on Iceland and need to add a little local colour, they will invariably throw in a quick, ironical side note about the country’s pervasive belief in elves, or Hidden ...

Icelanders love bakeries in a distinctly Icelandic fashion: from picking up kleinur at gas stations, crowding a mural-covered storefront for kanilsnúður (cinnamon bun), or laying out 10 kinds of ...

In December 1938, the Salinger family – Erich, Gertrud and eight-year old Steffi – penned a letter to Icelandic authorities. In it, they explained they were seeking refuge from the rise of persecution ...

You are entering a dimly lit room. Around you, figurines of humanoid and monstrous creatures occupy every available surface. You find a table littered with papers, but upon trying to read them you see ...

In Norse mythology, Bifröst is the burning rainbow bridge that extends between the realm of mortals and the realm of the gods. In reality, Bifröst is a quiet town, with not much going on around it. I ...

Some artists push boundaries. Others dissolve them entirely. For Björk Guðmundsdóttir, a concert is never just a concert, an album is never just an album. Her latest tour? Elaborated to such detail ...

What is BDSM? Typically considered sexual preferences and practices that include elements of control, submission or pain, it stands for bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism. It’s kink, it’s ...

It’s no secret that Iceland is broadly regarded as a safe and accepting place for the LGBTQIA+ community. Laws criminalising same-sex sexual activity were repealed in 1940, same-sex couples have been ...

Era-defining experimental group múm release their first LP in 12 years It’s been 25 years since múm released their debut album Yesterday was dramatic, today is ok. Ushering in a new era of independent ...

Six decades ago this year, Halldór Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland.” Having just read ‘Independent ...