As Helen also noted, without the money to purchase oil to fuel their fishing fleet Iceland is in a heap of trouble. Norway is in the position to help with that.
I'm sure the Norwegians could at least keep their fishing boat operating :-) - but there is more to Iceland than fishing boats, and I'm sure the Norwegian oil/power industry has its eyes on opportunities in Iceland:
Energy in Iceland
Iceland is the only country in Western Europe that still has large resources of competitively priced hydroelectric power and geothermal energy remaining to be harnessed. Although electricity consumption per capita in Iceland is second to none in the world, only a fraction of the country's energy potential has been tapped. Iceland is therefore the only country in Western Europe that still has large sources of competitively priced hydroelectric power and geothermal energy remaining to be harnessed.
I'm not worried about the people of Iceland - they will survive...the resilience of this people will take them through this, and they will laugh and tell 'sagas' about the madness of it all to their grandchildren.
As for a possible 'union' with Norway, I expect Iceland would see that as preferable to joining the EU :-)
If it comes down to a XOR choice between the EU and Norway I expect the decision will be Norway. There is an obvious 'match' between the Islandic and Norwegian fishing lobbies, tho' may not a progressive match :-). Either way the prospect of the Islander's fishing grounds coming under control of the Japanese zaibatsu¹, say, fills me with horror. It's one of the few fishing grounds that hasn't been totally hosed by modern "Resource Management" (scream.)
Love the sögur, BTW. Just finished reading Morkinsknna last week.
¹ Something on the order of them buying up the Trondelag for its agricultural export potential
Icelanders, being Icelanders, are having a huge argument about the ecological impact (a BIG deal in Iceland, given their natural history) as well as the economy trade offs.
