“Why do Icelanders think that they’re the best?”
Though a comical question, Icelanders do appear to possess a prodigious amount of pride in regards to their country. They have the prettiest people, the most beautiful land, the best beer, the best wool, the best horses, the best language, and the best water, to name a few. As someone who is significantly lacking in national pride, this resilient cultural conviction is astounding to me. Though this sense of pride can come across a little strong at times, met by such responses as “delusional,” “arrogant,” and “humorous,” I can’t help but admire it. Though I do harbor a slight resentment towards their overwhelming pride, it is one that is fueled by jealously rather than disdain.
Iceland is a small country, roughly the size of Kentucky and Virginia. It is home to a mere 321,000 people (give or take), approximately 50% of whom live in the capital, Reykjavik. It is said that the overwhelming majority of Icelanders can trace their lineage back hundreds upon hundreds of years, all the way back to a pure-blooded Viking decent.
I believe it is this small, culturally rich and close-knit community that brings the people together and instills such a sense of pride.Icelanders are in touch with the history of their land like a wolf is in touch with instinct and survival. I, on the other hand, have about as much connection to “my” land and “my” people as a pugapoo does to instinct and survival. My ancestry wraps the globe in a confusing tangle of knots so many times, that I don’t even have a people or land to call my own—I have no ancestors stretching more than two generations back in the land I call home. Icelanders know who they are based on who they have been as a people. They are immersed in their heritage through story, family, and tradition and thus, possess a mutual well of national gratification and self-worth to tap into whenever they please.
– Brittany Longhetano
