Iceland, as you may have heard, is a pretty egalitarian place. No, things aren’t perfect, but compared to many countries, people are pretty happy and, for the most part, don’t feel like they are somehow more important than other people. As a rule, if you want to interview a famous person, you just call them up on the phone—everyone is pretty much listed in the phone book (with a few exceptions, of course). The prime minister’s office is situated on a very busy, central corner downtown, and, if you want, you can just walk right up to the door, with your horse even.
What I’m getting at is that name dropping, as far as I can tell, is not really a done thing. This might also have something to do with the fact that besides people being relatively down to earth, it’s harder to name drop in a small country where familial connections are both close and well known. “I’m best friends with (FILL IN YOUR ICELANDIC CELEB OF CHOICE)” is, perhaps, less awe-inspiring if the person you’re talking to can reply, “Yeah? S/he is my second cousin,” or “Yeah? I dated his/her sister” or “Yeah? Her mom is my godmother.”
Nevertheless, I can now tell you, dear readers, how name dropping can be done in Icelandic—should the situation arise where you might like to show off about all the super famous people that you know really, really well.
Eth & Thorn 