Case Study Iceland
Guðmundur Hálfdánarson (Iceland, University of Iceland, Reykjavik) will investigate Þingvellir, which is seen as the Icelandic lieu de mémoire par excellence. The nationalist reference of the place is based on its history as the site for the Icelandic assembly, Alþingi, which convened there every year for over 850 years. The main function of this assembly was to serve as a general court for the whole island – during the first centuries, it was ruled by local chieftains from around the country, but after Iceland became a part of the Norwegian monarchy in the late 13th century and a century later of the Danish Norwegian monarchy, it gradually became under the control of royal officials. In the national(ist) narrative of Icelandic history, Alþingi became a symbol of national unity and sovereignty, as it was seen as a national institution and a legislative assembly. Thus, modern concepts of nationality and democracy were transposed to a time when these concepts had not been invented – the Alþingi of the tenth century was regarded as a precursor of the democratic republic established a millennium later.
This symbolic significance of Þingvellir played out in a series of “national celebrations” where the nation staged its alleged unity in a ceremonial manner. The environment in this part of Iceland is rather spectacular; one can say, therefore, that Þingvellir is a place where history and nature meet. The second has slowly replaced the former, that is, people have mostly forgotten the history of the place (although they know that the history is important, they have more or less forgotten all the details of the story) but the nature on display is still impressive. In recent years, Iceland has been flooded with tourists who have more or less taken over the site. As it is rather conveniently located on a tourist route often called the Golden Circle, almost every person visiting Iceland stops at Þingvellir. This has given the place a new meaning – as a tourist attraction rather than a site of memory.
