So, Iceland is less Norse pureblood than the rest of Scandinavia, and secondly, the "Iceland has had the benefit of developing free from the guilt of having displaced native inhabitants" statement of the article is also total rubbish in the sense that there were plenty of forcibly displaced inhabitants, it is just that they were native to elsewhere.
[1] https://www.irishtimes.com/news/why-people-in-iceland-look-j...
This Americanized way of viewing history falls flat on its face when applied to Europe.
It's just a brief statement along the lines of "We acknowledge that this event is taking place on the unceded territory of (list of indigenous tribes who inhabited the specific region)"
There are debates about its merits as an actual tool of reconciliation, but I don't think it's possible to argue that it isn't an expression of guilt by the cultural majority.
"The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts"
Not very apologetic!
It's a rabbit hole.
>‘Viking’ was a job description, not a matter of heredity, massive ancient DNA study shows
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/viking-was-job-descr...
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/dna-study-reveals-fa...
They are much more diverse and have interacted much more with the outside world. You can not compare Sweden with Iceland.
Sweden is a very progressive country and always have been in the modern age. Not being condescending but I perceived the people in Iceland very bold and and often interacting and dressing in a way that would be considered "low class". I also must say (downvote expected) that the Icelandic women by far do not live up to their reputation (looks).
Sweden had mining, coal, the industrial revolution etc. Iceland did not have mining, did not have coal, did not have gas, did not have an industrial revolution due to lack of natural resources. They were a poor area and stayed poor until recently when they were able to harvest energy from their volcanoes. In fact, it is now a society with one of the highest energy consumption in the world. Well set for the future due to cheap energy and easy cooling of servers.
It is true that the Icelandic society is much more coherent than others. In general I observed that if you look for a second passport, look in a small country. The smaller the better. (Incredibly difficult to get a passport in Liechtenstein, Andorra or Monaco). In big countries like Russia, USA, Brazil or China a citizen is mostly expendable.
By mind-meld?! Clearly far more advanced than Swedes! As long as they controlled their powerful emotions and focused on logic!
Oh, you mean volcanoes...
Do you know the thinnest books in the world?
Swiss Humor
Italian heroes
German lovers
English cuisine
Icelandic industry
Regarding the overall tone of your two post, you should refer to the site guidelines.
This whole story reads like this complete detachment of Iceland from everything else around it. But many Americans are entirely infatuated with Iceland and don’t look beyond its borders to put it in context.
Almost everything said about Icelanders here would apply to my native Norway. The attitudes, values etc are very similar. Same with the connection to nature.
Same with institutions. The Thing like the Icelanders had existed all over Scandinavia. It was not unique to Iceland. But Norway being much larger had multiple Thing. They still served as a sort of proto democracy. New Kings got voted in by election. Every free man and women could vote. Every offspring of the king, bastard or not was eligible to “run for office” so to speak.
What is unique to Iceland is how tightly knit society they are due to how few people they are and everybody knowing everybody.
And of course that they can read the original sagas but sagas also play an important role in Norway. I also learned about old Norse and read sagas in high school.
It is more difficult for us of course but we can still see it is a strongly related language. I can guess a lot of the text if I read an Icelandic newspaper.