Magnus Salvarsson is a fifth generation islander here on Vigur in Iceland. It’s a tiny place, 2kms long by 400m wide, but it’s teeming with life from sheep to eiders to (more recently) tourists. Magnus loves to be here and help with the family businesses – which include sheep, eiders, and tourists – but he…
Meet the North’s series with Arctic Deeply has begun. The first segment is called “When Coal Leaves Center Stage in Longyearbyen” Have a read – discover the singers and miners who keep Svalbard going. It was below freezing inside the derelict mining building that looked down over Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Coal dust powdered the wooden floor….
(Post 1 of 3) Most Icelanders identify more with Europe than they do with the Arctic, and you don’t have to look far to see that connection. This photograph is from the main street of Akureyri where many windows are full of Nordic clothing and all things Viking. You have to search a little deeper…
(Post 2 of 3) Embla Oddsdóttir brings people together on Arctic issues that touch this country, though deciding which issues are “Arctic” is not always easy. Embla is the director of the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network. She and I talked about identity and how an Arctic connection is now being forged for the people of…
(Post 3 of 3) It’s time for us to head to the part of Iceland which is “the most Arctic,” according to Embla. It’s off the ring road and along gravel roads. The plants we recognize from other parts of the north (crowberry!) are everywhere. Sheep, fish and an Arctic vision lie ahead in the…
(Post 2 of 3) “I have been happy in so many ways. I have traveled and seen the world and felt part of the world.” Margrét began her career with a newspaper, but she didn’t want to become an old journalist (“a piece of furniture” as she puts it), so she moved on. She got…