The President in Iceland likes to think he has absolute power. Luckily, the position is largely ceremonial.
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Icelandic band Sigur Rós performed their new single 'Kveikur' on Jay Leno's The Tonight Show on NBC yesterday evening.
Watch an audio slideshow of how traditional Icelandic rhubarb stew is made. Rhubarb is one of the few vegetables that grows effortlessly in Iceland and for that reason it used to be a highly-valued addition to the traditional diet of fish and lamb.
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Italian cryptographer Giancarlo Gianazza and a team of scientists and Holy Grail enthusiasts believed to have found clues that the Holy Grail and other treasures from Christian mythology were hidden in Iceland—but found nothing.
According to history magazine Sagan Öll, when Gianazza and his team searched for the Holy Grail in Skipholtskrókur in Iceland’s highlands near Kjölur mountain pass this summer they only found water and no evidence of a secret underground dome.
They scientists do however believe that during their Holy Grail expedition this year they were able to gather enough evidence to continue their quest in a larger area in Iceland’s highlands next year.
Gianazza is confident that the Holy Grail is hidden in Iceland because of clues that he found in Italian artwork and literature.
In Botticelli’s “Primavera” a series of numeric symbols form the date March 14, 1319, which somehow supports Gianazza’s theory, and in da Vinci’s “Last Supper” Gianazza believes to have found outlines matching the landscape at Kjölur.
Further clues were found in Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” and an ancient Icelandic script states that poet and politician Snorri Sturluson was accompanied by “eighty armored Eastmen” at the Althingi parliament in 1217, who could have been the Knights Templars.
Sturluson could then have assisted them with finding a good hiding place for their treasure, Gianazza concluded.
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This year, Iceland Review celebrates its 50th anniversary. In ‘Cover Story’, the magazine’s first editor, Haraldur J. Hamar, recalls its history and discusses the work of its first designer, Gísli B. Björnsson. The issue is packed with colorful articles, ranging from notable artists and athletes to memorable coffee and pancakes at the Reykjavík wharf. Click here to subscribe to Iceland Review and here to look at a selection of pages from the current issue.
The 11th Reykjavík Shorts & Docs. Catch it while it lasts!
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