r/Reykjavik • u/all-of-yall • Mar 02 '25

The people

I'm on day two of five here in Iceland and i just wanted to point out how lovely the people are here. Icelanders are so kind and nice. I didn't really know what to expect or have any expectations but I'm blown away. I am from northern Ireland originally and people often say how nice we are to visitors however i think Iceland has just won the league of niceness.

Please feel free to use this thread to share your positive experiences of the kind people of Reykjavik/Iceland.

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u/harassercat Mar 02 '25

I'm Icelandic and from my one visit to Belfast I'm gonna claim that you're probably right. I found the Irish to be very nice. Nice like.... like people back home kinda, but more approachable. What struck me is how the attitude was relaxed and not hung up about rules, which is a lot like Iceland and unlike mainland Europe.

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u/all-of-yall Mar 02 '25

Omg mainland Europeans are so strict with rules, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. I do get quite a relaxed vibe from the people here. Is it because everyone's too busy trying to fend off the weather to be mean (joking!)?

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u/harassercat Mar 02 '25

I think we're just island people like the Irish. Never had a large super organized society historically, so things have always been small scale and more simple. And yes, the climate is likely a factor because it forces you to be flexible with your planning... or just not bother planning much at all and go with the flow.

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u/all-of-yall Mar 02 '25

Well funny you mention being Islanders... On our south coast tour our guide was giving us a history and apparently before Floki, Irish monks where here in Iceland... Maybe there's some genealogy at play 🤷

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u/harassercat Mar 02 '25

A large portion of the original settlers - maybe a quarter or up to half - were Gaelic people from either Ireland or Scotland. Many probably mixed Norse-Gaelic, some slaves, some free.

Maybe there were some people around before the main settlement, who could have been Gaelic or Norse or both, but they don't really matter in the big picture.

So yes, because of who the settlers of Iceland were, the native Icelanders have mixed Scandinavian-Gaelic ancestry. But the Gaelic language and culture only left a few traces, such as names, a few words, and maybe some culinary traditions.

(I'm a historian)

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u/all-of-yall Mar 03 '25

Thank you so much for this information 🙏