Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, by Eliza Reid

My review of Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, by Eliza Reid

​There is currently no country, city, nor region in the world that has attained gender equity or equality. However, there is one nation that has come close, in many regards, and continues to tighten the gender gap faster than anywhere else in the world – Iceland.

In Secrets of the Sprakkar, author (and First Lady of Iceland) Eliza Reid chronicles the island nation’s successes and failures in supporting gender equality. From advancements like their guaranteed parental leave of 12 months combined, to the numbers of women leading traditionally male executive roles in industries such as farming and search and rescue, Iceland is consistently ranked number one in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report.

Eliza Reid tells the stories of the Sprakkar (an Icelandic word meaning “extraordinary women”) from an outsider’s perspective. Born and raised in the Ottawa Valley, Canada, Reid was first introduced to Iceland when she visited her soon-to-be husband there in the early 2000s. While learning the unique Norse Germanic language has been a challenge for her, adjusting to her new life was made easier by the supports Icelandic women are provided. Government-sponsored daycare, free peer support groups, and normalized public breastfeeding are just a few of the rights Icelandic women have that women in other industrialized nations do not.

In the book, Reid includes small interlude-like chapters, where she shares the rich history of Icelandic mythology and the power of female role models throughout time. One of the most famous Icelandic heroines is Ơlöf “The Rich” Loftsdóttir, who avenged her husband’s death by capturing several of England’s battleships. She is rumored to have been responsible for a five-year war between Denmark and England in the Middle Ages. Reid adds these interim chapters to point out that is ancient heroines like Ơlöf, and others, which help Icelandic people more easily view women as equals.  
However, it is not all unicorns and rainbows for Iceland’s women. There is still a very long way to go. There is still a pay gap, often of nearly 30%, which the country is continually trying to address. There is also a high rate of sexual violence and underreported rape cases.

Reid’s husband, Gudni Jóhannesson, became president of Iceland in 2016. Although the First Lady title is made-up, and Reid insists there are no specific roles for her, she used her new recognition to continue the plight[SK3]  for gender equality in Iceland – and to write this book. She traveled around the nation learning what women needed most and how she could help. At the same time, she continued her previous work as a journalist and writing conference lead, now focusing her craft on the plight of women in Iceland and around the world.

As extraordinary and advanced as Iceland’s women are, however, there are some important notes to consider when comparing the country to other developed nations. Iceland’s population is less than 400,000-- that’s smaller than Halifax, Nova Scotia. Most Icelandic people are distantly related to each other--so much so that they have a national database you can search to make sure you’re not within an unhealthy or incestuous range if you happen to meet a potential new love interest. It’s probably fairly easy to pass new laws and revisit outdated traditions when you’re the second cousin of someone in parliament. It is much harder to change outdated beliefs in even the next most gender-equal developed country, Finland[i], at over 5.5 million people, let alone a country like Canada at nearly 40 million.

I enjoyed Secrets of the Sprakkar. Throughout the read I learned a lot more about what it takes to close the gender gap in a harsh landscape (Iceland is harsh patriarchally  and environmentally!) and I learned a bit of the Icelandic language, too. The Icelandic people are very proud of their language, and although it is based on an otherwise extinct Norse Germanic language, Icelanders frequently update their lexicon to add brand new Icelandic words, such as loftslagskvíði (anxiety about climate change) and smitskömm (shame at being infected with Covid-19.)

Reid does a good job of reminding us about how far Iceland still has to go, as well. She dedicates an entire section to Transgender rights which in Iceland, as in most developed countries, are still quite slow to progress enough for Trans individuals to feel safe. She interviews Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir, aka Owl Fisher, a nonbinary trans rights activist who is one of Iceland’s more famous social media celebrities. Ugla talks about changes made for LGBTQ people over recent history, and how much more there is to do.

For example, in Icelandic language there is now a word, hán which can be used as a nonbinary pronoun instead of hún “she” or hann “he,” but as of yet it is only used within the LGBTQ+ community itself and has not been accepted into the more heteronormative lexicon.  On the flip side, many trans laws have been passed in recently years, such as one declaring that from the age of fifteen, an Icelander can legally change their name and gender marker on their identification. Altering gender on ID is a right not granted in most other nations.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in advocating for women’s rights in their own country. While it is not instructional and therefore won’t teach you how to change national opinion, it does give an uplifting and educational viewpoint of what closing the gender gap can start to look like for both men and women around the world.
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I don’t think I can change four hundred million American and Canadian minds myself, but at the very least I could go out and start my own kvenfélög—an officially-recognized women’s association.

[i] Whiting, Kate, “Gender gap: These are the world’s most gender-equal countries,” World Economic Forum, Jul 13, 2022, World Economic Forum

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