Gísli Pálsson dicusses the place of aquatic animals in the Icelandic world-view and explores the correspondence between human society and representations of water beings during the era of household production. The article further examines how ideas about the fish world have changed during this century as Icelanders have entered into new kinds of social relationships. Gísli takes here the theoretical position that some animals, because of their anomalous position, are better to think with than others and suggests that symbolic expressions should be studies in a context of development over time.

The idea of fish: land and sea in the Icelandic world-view