SC - Iceland

[david friedman]

At 2:40 AM -0600 2/7/01, Stefan li Rous wrote:
>Nanna said:
>>  I'm not going to say Icelandic hasn't changed for the last 800 years. Of
>>  course it has, although less than most other languages. But we tend to be
>>  rather protective of it. We have no old palaces, cathedrals or monuments, in
>>  fact no buildings more than 250 years old - few old works of art, no
>>  national treasures to speak of. Except our litterature. That, and our
>>  language, is what sets us apart. Which is why I, while not a language purist
>>  myself, can readily understand people who are.
>
>Huh? There are large portions of the United States that weren't even
>colonized 250 years ago and the country itself isn't that old, but
>Iceland was settled in 900 something?

Starting about 870

>Why is it rare to have no buildings
>or works of art that old?

They didn't build any palaces or the like. What they did build was 
largely wood.

But they could have had quite a collection of palaces and cathedrals, 
and their literature would still be what sets them apart.
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/