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on 9/1/02 2:00 AM, KENT JOHNSON at [log in to unmask] wrote: > Arni Ibsen said, > >> ICELANDAIR realize that promoting the sagas is in their own best >> interest since classic Icelandic literature has long been the major >> initiative for travelling to the country. > > Arni, this is pretty funny. I have this image of planeloads of excited > tourists, their suitcases stuffed full of obscure and ancient texts. > The planes are landing in Rekjavik like it's the Berlin airlift. I'll admit, Kent, that 'the major initiative' is a bit of an exaggeration on my part, but this type of tourist is quite common though. Although not exactly walking around in a daze and reciting their favourite texts like the book-people in Truffaud's Fahrenheit 451, they certainly keep scuttling between the various sites from the sagas. There's now even a tourist centre at Bergthorshvoll, where Njall of Njals' Saga lived, complete with performances in 'viking' attire! We're being taken over by 'saga-age' kitch. > I mean, I DO think that there are quite a few more salmon > fishermen flying on those long Icelandair flights than fanatics of > classic Icelandic literature! Salmon fishing in Iceland is sold at such disgusting prices these days that only billionaires can afford it. And they all have their own planes, if not entire airlines. Best Árni -- Árni Ibsen Stekkjarkinn 19, 220 Hafnarfjördur, Iceland tel.: +354-555-3991 e-mail: [log in to unmask] http://www.centrum.is/~aibsen/