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Alistair Winter, on 18 July 2013 - 10:20 AM, said:
Then again, it's a tiny country with very little political or cultural influence. Why would all the Scandinavians start speaking modern Icelandic?
Eh, that as mostly for the viking comparison others were making. Also, just Icelandic for the battlecry. I never said for the Scandinavians to start speaking Icelandic
However, I now feel compelled to share in no particular order the seven reasons why Iceland is an awesome country:
7: As previously mentioned, their language is nearly identical to Norse.
6: Iceland established it's first parliament, the Alþingi, in 930. Which makes it the oldest form of parliament still in existence.
5: It's a world leader in renewable energy. They derive approximately 80% of their power from geothermal and hydroelectric plants.
4: They have one of the highest literacy rates in the world, 99.9%.
3: Iceland is one of the safest countries in the world. It is a very common sight to see parents leave their babies in a stroller when they go into restaurants.
2: In 2008 when the world was going through an economic crisis Icelanders overthrew their government, elected new officials, and held the politicians and banks responsible for the problem. Today they have largely fixed their economic problems and recovering well. This was well before any of the other, similar, protests around the world.
1: And yeah, Iceland has had a good bit of cultural influence. Both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda are Icelandic texts which contain much of what is known of Norse mythology. It's quite possible J.R.R. Tolkien was inspired by these texts as well.
