Two countries much alike in geography, there are significant connections between Scotland and Iceland. In my ongoing completely incompletable series to write about the connection between Scotland and every other country, Iceland is quite an easy one. The are a fair number of links.
Today, let’s explore together as we look at the geographical connections and the historic ties. With a little interesting touch of geopolitics thrown in at the end because we like to do things differently here.
The geographic connections between Scotland and Iceland
Just looking at pictures of Iceland, I am reminded deeply of the Scottish Highlands.
Similar forces look to have made both countries. Volcanoes and glaciers. There’s similar terrain to be found in many countries on the planet, but each is special in its own way.
Honestly I find the geology hard to put into words myself, so if you’re interested in Scottish geology consult here and if you want Iceland look here. The point is, there’s some rock similarities based on events that happened millions of years ago.
The historic connection between Scotland and Iceland
Without putting too fine a point on it, Iceland was one of the homes of the Norse. The Norse were essentially a viking people, and they took human slaves. This is but one connection between the two. There are genetic connections between Scotland and Iceland which also suggests the impact that this complicated history between the two countries had.
It’s nice that Scotland isn’t necessarily the bad guy in history for once! Normally we only get to enjoy that position when we are against the English.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. We have a pretty significant event in Icelandic history.
The Icelandic National Anthem
Lofsöngur is a song which I have been told is incredibly difficult to sing correctly. Not being an Icelandic speaker nor a particularly decent singer, I wouldn’t know. But it is hauntingly beautiful. It carries a lot of religion in it. The modern day Nordic nations seem to have a lot of religious elements to them though they are deeply secular.
Scotland is kind of the opposite.
Anyway, the anthem was composed in Edinburgh. At the very least, it seems uncontested that the music was composed in Edinburgh by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson. There is some debate over the lyrics of Matthías Jochumsson, though there is a general acknowledgement he was in Edinburgh at the same time even if he wrote the lyrics at a different time. This puts Scotland into a really important part of the story of Iceland.
Scotland and Iceland’s importance in NATO
Most people don’t spend their life concerned about geopolitics but at a personal level I find it fascinating. One place where Scotland and Iceland share an interesting position is in NATO membership.
The GIUK gap is essentially the part of the North Sea that connects to the Atlantic Ocean. The acronym is for Greenland Iceland United Kingdom. The United Kingdom part is Scotland. The idea is that in strategic defensive terms, adversaries like Russia cannot get into the Atlantic without the West knowing about it. This was important at a time when nuclear submarines were one of the main methods of nuclear deployment.
It’s why the UK invaded Iceland during the Second World War in Operation Fork. It stopped the Nazis from potentially securing a neutral place to park submarines or other types of ship.
In the modern day, it’s amongst the reasons why the US government is showing interest in Greenland. Hopefully Scotland and Iceland will be free of international meddling like this.
In terms of closer partnership, Scotland was interested in pursuing Nordic connections when we were in the market for independence, but as the country voted against that, that’s all on the backburner for now. Maybe one of these days Scotland will have another serious discussion about it.
Concluding thoughts
There’s a compelling connection between Scotland and Iceland. It makes sense due to our proximity, it is perhaps more fascinating how different we are. This is the fun thing about history and travel however, there’s always a different world out there and even two countries that are relatively close, subject to similar pressures from bigger neighbours, and living on similar (if different scales) landscape, can find themselves in an interesting comparison.
For my part, I hope to one day end up in Iceland. I can eat a rotten fish and drink a Brennevín. I hope the Icelanders also read this, and come join me for whisky and irn bru.
This is my third installment of this series to compile every country. If you’d like more, here’s Greece and Wales. I am currently working on several simultaneously. If you’d like me to get to your country quicker, you can message me on Facebook or Instagram. Alternatively, book a tour.
The writer of this piece does not hate Iceland, unlike this colourful character.
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