A foreign traveler who was passing through Keflavík Airport was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a giant picture of himself – or at least some other young bearded man who looked remarkably similar to him. A fellow traveler snapped a photo of the two bearded characters and posted it to Reddit where it has been trending.
Beard shaming: you are doing it wrong!
One redditor pointed out that the man in the advertisement, which is for outdoor wear from the Icelandic hiking and outdoor wear company 66°N is sporting a handsome full beard, while the traveler only has a little boys beard. A second redditor asks whether this is Beard shaming, to which the beard-shamer replies that it's small beard shaming.
We at Iceland Insider object to this online bullying: While it is obvious that the 66°N model has a handsome, full and meticulously groomed beard, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the beard of the traveler. Beard-shaming has a long tradition in Iceland, stretching all the way back to the Viking Age, and only applies to men who cannot grow decent beards, or who grow thin half-beards.
The correct insult is Taðskegglingur
In Njálssaga, the story of Burnt-Njáll one of the greatest of the Icelandic Sagas, Njáll Þorgeirsson, one of the main characters of the saga, and his sons are ridiculed by one of their opponents as taðskegglingar, which translates as shit-beards, because none of them were able to grow full manly beards.
Tað is the Icelandic word for dry sheep or horse manure, and having a beard of sheep-shit is obviously not a sign of great manliness. While the traveler in the picture obviously has other priorities in life than to grow his beard, he is no taðskegglingur!
A foreign traveler who was passing through Keflavík Airport was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a giant picture of himself – or at least some other young bearded man who looked remarkably similar to him. A fellow traveler snapped a photo of the two bearded characters and posted it to Reddit where it has been trending.
Beard shaming: you are doing it wrong!
One redditor pointed out that the man in the advertisement, which is for outdoor wear from the Icelandic hiking and outdoor wear company 66°N is sporting a handsome full beard, while the traveler only has a little boys beard. A second redditor asks whether this is Beard shaming, to which the beard-shamer replies that it's small beard shaming.
We at Iceland Insider object to this online bullying: While it is obvious that the 66°N model has a handsome, full and meticulously groomed beard, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the beard of the traveler. Beard-shaming has a long tradition in Iceland, stretching all the way back to the Viking Age, and only applies to men who cannot grow decent beards, or who grow thin half-beards.
The correct insult is Taðskegglingur
In Njálssaga, the story of Burnt-Njáll one of the greatest of the Icelandic Sagas, Njáll Þorgeirsson, one of the main characters of the saga, and his sons are ridiculed by one of their opponents as taðskegglingar, which translates as shit-beards, because none of them were able to grow full manly beards.
Tað is the Icelandic word for dry sheep or horse manure, and having a beard of sheep-shit is obviously not a sign of great manliness. While the traveler in the picture obviously has other priorities in life than to grow his beard, he is no taðskegglingur!
